Emerging Emotions

**Before doing this activity we suggest you take a look at the "Different Dimensions of Reality"**

How

Online Version

Facilitator asks participants to mention the emotions that are likely to come up as they go through the Fork to Farm Dialogue conversations (i.e: hope, anger, frustration, confidence, curiosity, victimised, apathetic, persecuted, overwhelmed, withdrawn, resentful, angry, indignant). These should be captured somewhere where everyone can see (i.e document on shared screen, chat, etc)
Facilitator puts participants in breakout groups and asks each group to choose one of the emotions, each person in the group should tell the others how they behave when they feel that emotion. They should also say how they like to be approached when they are feeling that way. You can arrange group numbers so that each person has 3-5mins to speak.
Facilitator brings back people to the main room and asks participants what they learned. Facilitator can highlight:
1. We tend to assume we can read people's expressions and know what they are feeling. We then respond based on that assumption. Through these conversations it is clear that we all act in different ways.
Facilitator can ask the group to co-create a list of phrases which they could use to ask someone about how they are feeling about something.

Why

We all express emotions in different ways. While when you are angry you might shout and pace around while I might shut down, avoid eye contact and disappear for a bit. If we are not aware of how others express their emotions we might assume things that are not true and then act based on those assumptions.

Make sure to have different conversation formats. Some people feel better sharing i 1-1 conversations while others like to share in bigger groups.

Create a space where people feel safe. Maybe you can find ways for people to express their emotions anonymously.

Acknowledge from the start that feelings are good. Be transparent by acknowledging the presence of your own feelings and how feelings will always be present in conversations. Feelings are allowed and important parts of the conversations.

Use open questions when asking someone else how they feel about something. (I.e: how do you feel about x?)

If things get too heavy, it's ok to take a break. Ask people to share something completely off-topic. For example: Do tooth fairies exist in your culture?

Communicate in ways that are curious, opening up conversations instead of shutting them down.

Consider that whatever you are feeling it is highly likely someone else will be feeling the same way.

Take the time to get to know the people who are coming to your dialogue individually. This can help create spaces where people feel more comfortable.

Example

When we did this with the Community of Practice we co-created the following list of how we can approach emotions.