Place

I noticed recently, after various trips away, that there are certain spots along my route where I feel a weight lift and I let out a sigh of relief.

Don’t get me wrong, I have been having a fantastic time with family and friends, enjoying great company, visiting other beautiful landscapes, experiencing joyful events and wonderful sites of interest. But, my town and my home have become my sanctuary, my best Place.

I can be myself, surrounded by things that make me feel at ease.
The landscape, my valley, with it’s hills, forests and rivers.
Colours and textures that I have chosen for my walls and furnishings.
Food to my taste, the smell of my freshly washed bed sheets.
Silence if I choose.
Doing things the way that I want to …. or not!

Place is tangible, an immersive experience that interacts with our five senses.

There is also a deep meaning and significance to Place.

We develop relationships with places, and some can become part of who we are, extensions of our identity. As large as countries and their cultures, as formative as the environments that we grew up in, as familiar as the organisations that we work at, and as pleasurable as the homes and venues where we meet those that we know and love.

I think it’s also true to say that there is an expanding ‘virtual’ world that we have come to inhabit. A greater flexibility of place, nuanced to reflect our individual points of interest, identity and difference.

We can become attached to places for many reasons, others can leave us feeling uncomfortable, detached, even alienated.
But the places that we actively choose to enter and inhabit are likely to have shared characteristics or values that resonate with us.

They engender a sense of community or a feeling of belonging. They provide us with the right conditions for us to feel some psychological safety so that we can develop ease and trust. Places where we can feel more authentic and express ourselves better. Places where we might feel comfortable enough to engage in challenges that take us out of our comfort zone and help us to grow.

When we are creating a Thinking Environment we have to pay particular attention to Place, knowing how complex a component it is.

We consider the physical environment in terms of ‘the room, the listener, your body’, all of which need to say that ‘You matter’.

- Will you be able to find your way easily?
- Will accessibility have been considered, in person or online?
- Will it be warm and comfortable?
- Will there be refreshments with dietary considerations taken into account?
- Will the room layout reflect equality?
- Will distractions and interruptions be minimised?

Planning is key to make sure that our physical needs are met, but, once we arrive, the frameworks and structures of a Thinking Environment have inclusion and belonging, that sense of Place, baked in.

The rules of engagement create a space where the thinker truly matters.

Equality of time and turns and a commitment to attention, without interruption, means that everybody’s voice is welcomed and respectfully heard.

Authenticity is encouraged, as is liberation from untrue assumptions that cause judgement and prejudice, meaning that difference and lived experience are appreciated.

Whenever I come back to a Thinking Environment, I feel the familiar, comfortable reassurance of Place.
With the sense of safety that it brings, the weight lifts, I can let out a sigh of relief.

I know that what I think, and more than that, who I am, matters… I belong in this Place.