Archive - Feb 24, 2008

Experiencing the AGPA Large Group

An important part of the AGPA conference for me personally was the Large Group open sessions. I've participated in large groups at Group Relations conferences in the past and I've always valued the experiences. This large group experience was different, which brought its own value to me.

Post AGPA dream

As my cellphone started chirping this morning, alerting me to my need to get my stuff together and get on the road back home, I was in the midst of a striking dream. It started in what seemed to be the parking lot of a shopping center. I was driving the car and had pulled into a parking lot. I was inching the car forward to be all the way into the lot, but I went a little too far and hit the curb. I backed up, but backed up to far. I pulled forward again and overshot the curb by a greater amount, backed up again to correct things. By then, Kim as out of the car getting stuff out of the trunk, which I'm not sure how she did it. I was concerned about hitting her and pulled forward, driving across the curb through the parking and making a grand loop back to where Kim was. She was concerned about if I was alright and I said I felt okay, just out of focus. So, she decided that I should simply drive home. She would get home some other way.

I drove home through a town that seemed very much like the town I grew up in as a child. As I drove, two women in outfits that seemed like a cross between a clown out fit and a running suit, went out for a run, crossing my path. I worried about being able to avoid hitting them. I pulled onto another street that was crowded with pedestrians. Angst filled, I drove very carefully home, where I arrived safely, without doing any damage to anyone or anything, except perhaps my own equilibrium.

In a few minutes, I will head off to the train station. I will sit on the train and process and write about my experiences at the AGPA conference. I hope to get home safely, regaining my equilibrium, and not hitting anyone on the way. I am not sure how much this is about the AGPA conference and the wonderfully varied reactions to me as a blogger and member of the press that I received. Other associations or interpretations are welcome.