written by Heather Plett and presented by Judith Hurley Prosser The talking piece isn’t magic, but “what IS magic is the way that it invites us to listen in ways we don’t normally listen and speak in ways we don’t normally speak.” When a talking piece goes around the circle, the person who holds it is invited to “speak with intention”. Everyone else is invited to “listen with attention” and not interrupt or ask questions. Everyone in the conversation is invited to “tend the w

Nancy Busey by Nancy Busey Let’s talk about the role of the guardian. What exactly are guardians, what do they do, and what is their relationship to the host? Together, let’s use the metaphor of a campfire to describe the difference between the host’s and guardian’s roles. The host’s job is to put logs on the fire, keeping us warm. The guardian’s job is to make sure that nobody around the circle gets so close to the fire that they get burned. In an untended circle, some