In Australia there is a saying that “he/she has gone walkabout”. It means a person has left her usual daily life and routines and has gone to walk upon and be with the land to which she belongs.

The aborigines believe that there are songlines that traverse the Earth and sustain it. Each person inherits a portion of a songline from the place of his birth and is responsible for keeping it strong. Within this worldview there is no question that there is a fundamental mutuality of connection between humans and the Land.

I can still remember as if yesterday a 3 week “drive- and-walkabout” I took in the late summer of 1993. I knew I would start by arriving at Glacier National Park, a place I had heard much about but had never visited. I had been camping by the side of a lake in Glacier and walking every day for miles along the trails, through the mountains and meadows. It was sunset and I was sitting on the shore of the lake amongst the rocks. Gazing out over the water I found myself simply present. It was so uncomplicated. It was so powerful. I was at peace. Just by virtue of being, I belonged. No special way to be. No particular thing to do.

Looking back, it seems no coincidence that this was the beginning of a deepening of my work in dialogue. I began to look more intensely into what it means for humans to create conversations that are in a sense “walkabouts” within the land of our collective consciousness. Conversations that permit us to connect fully with the thinking/feeling landscape of our human systems. Conversations through which we discern patterns of belonging and how they serve, or do not serve, the larger systems we inhabit - our families, our communities, our organizations.

Thirteen years have passed. In the last three years the weaving of these two forms of “walking about” upon the land and in dialogue has begun to emerge and take on shape and substance. The Presence Walkabout circles are my way of offering my continually evolving learnings. They are an acknowledgement of the power of the Land to tune us to a place of deep and powerful listening within ourselves. They combine practices of many Earth based disciplines with what I am learning about evoking and deepening our capacity for collective intelligence and wisdom.

Each year the number and form of Presence Walkabout circles increases. Each has been a unique and powerful time of teaching, learning and co-created discovery, all facilitated by the dance with the Land. If it is of value to you to read what others have experienced, please visit.

For specifics on the types of walkabout offered and links for each program. For a CALENDAR of events.

If you are interested in attending one of the Walkabout programs or are curious and want to know more, please contact me. I look forward to speaking with you.

And if there is someone in your circles of friends and colleagues who you feel moved to share this invitation with please, please do. Your listening and sharing is the primary way that this invitation moves with integrity to those who I do not know and yet may be only "waiting to receive it". Thank you for this gift.

Until we meet, may you walk gently upon the earth and know yourself supported and cared for in your journey.