The Pause

First meeting of 2024 on a day so chilly that we all retreated to ZOOM, as if we were on the primary campaign trails in Iowa.

Bill, our Toastmaster, opened the session and the year with intentionality. ” Create a clearing in the dense forest of your life” said Martha Postlethwaite. That clearing, that pause, creates a space where a filler word, or an “umm” would have been, a gap when you can exert your power to not react.

Three speakers presented their observations, goals and thoughts this morning: Traci presented ” 2024 Theme Reveal” and her theme for 2024 is ” Live Gamefied’, a desire to level up your life. Belle presented ” Insights in the Pause”, thoughts post holiday heartbreak, Elliot presented ” The abundance of the Chihuahua Desert” , a presentation on the abundance of life in the desert.

Adi led a lively round of table topics.

The word of the day was ” Assuage”.

Our next meeting is Saturday, January 20th.

Toastmaster Elliot introduced the meeting with a round of home baked cookies and fun facts about cookies. Traci presented her speech titled ” Conditioned to flourish”, a reminder that life is short and should be enjoyed fully everyday. ” Dance in the playground of life, cultivate your playground ” she exorted. Belle presented ” Thinking about cookies”, memories of their grandmother’s love for her family. ” Love is newspaper clippings, super bad chicken, tight hugs, smiles” all dispensed generously in a lifetime.

Bill led the group in a round of cookie inspired table topics.

The word of the day was ” Rizz”.
Our next and final meeting of 2023 is Saturday, December 16th.

Happy holidays Sunrisers! May your holidays be rich, sweet, soft and crunchy!

With only one month left this year, how about taking a quick look at 2023 in preparation for new year’s resolutions? For Paula, the Toastmaster of the day, 2023 was about growth over fear, when she tried things that previously scared her such as, competing in the international speech contest or swimming in the large bodies of water. 2023 was also about the pursuit of happiness in the most simple things, such as live music, silent disco, paddle boarding.

The word of the day was ” mirth” meaning amusement or joy.
Elliot presented” My first work mentor: a warm welcome”. He shared the lessons learnt from his mentor at work which stay with him to this day.

Cris presented ” Active listening for the win!” a two part speech where the second, longer part is an exercise on active listening. In this case, Cris used table topics to demonstrate her active listening skills.

Table topics touched on new skills acquired this year, bad habits about to be quit, a Losers’ Ball at new year for all those without a plan( now, that’s something to plan for!) and a funny question: Do mosquito scientists like mosquitoes?

2023 was a year of growth and new adventures and it’s not over yet!

Our next meeting is December 9th.