SPOTLIGHT
ON MICHEL DAW'S WORKSHOP SESSIONS
by

Michel Daw is a long-time member of the New Stoa, who has a clear talent for pedagogy. When I heard last year that Michel was starting a Stoicism workshop in his neighbourhood, I was intrigued and hoped he would talk about this experience to the New Stoa. This month's spotlight fulfills that wish.

Hi Michel. First, you're a very active member of the community. Along with your wife Pam, you have several initiatives to your account, among which several websites and blogs, you're animating Facebook groups about Stoicism and a Stoic "in real life" workshop. I'm not sure to know all of your activities so how about making a little list of the things you'd like me to link to?
We have several Facebook groups. Two are for workshop participants only, and one other is for the online course. We also work on some websites and blogs. The blog is called Living the Stoic Life, and the website simply The Stoic Life. We also have a daily blog called Words of the Ancient Wise, where we post interesting quotes, and discuss about them in the comments.
There's already a lot of meat there, but let's talk more specifically about your workshop sessions. How did it all start?
This requires a little background. My wife, Pamela, and I belong to a vibrant and active Neo-Pagan community in our region. The term, Neo-Pagan, or Pagan, is an umbrella term that covers just about everyone who is seeking to bring back lost or forgotten religious or spiritual practices, or to invent new ones. Some are well known, such as the Wiccans, the Druids, etc. Many are not as well known, such as Hellenic, Roman, and Norse Reconstructionists who focus on the scholarship of ancient cultures to form a modern spiritual community.
Pam and I are very social. We enjoy the company of friends, the challenge of conversation and the pleasure of shared experience. About half of the evenings of any given month are spent with friends and family for dinner and games. We were looking for a group that would also serve as a spiritual 'home' so to speak, after being disillusioned by the major religions and the disconnection between dogma and practice. We visited with several of the Pagan groups, learning their core principles and watching them in action. For us, what they didto make the world a better place was far more important than what they taught. That being said, we tended to avoid groups that strained credulity to the breaking point (for us).
When we had discovered Stoicism, we knew we had found the core of our belief system. The problem for us was that there is very little in the way of community. Some of the online communities are fine, but usually extremely contentious. There were no other Stoics in our area. We suspected that this was simply because most people were not aware of Stoicism as a practice and system. The only way to have a Stoic community, therefore, would be to share the Stoic teachings with as many people as possible, and hope that some would be interested enough to start meeting together.
One feature of the Neo-Pagan community is that, due to its relatively small size and scattered nature, festivals and communal camping become the way in which most people make contact with others of similar interests. These 'fests' provide a smörgåsbord of available options for religious and spiritual expression, and many feature workshops where practitioners discuss and demonstrate their approach to any interested attendees. The Neo-Pagan community is still relatively young, and so it evolves quickly. These Fests are one of the keys for staying in touch, in addition to being just great camping fun.
We had been studying Stoicism for several years, and sharing some of our discoveries with our friends in the community. Most of the time this was online, on Facebook, but sometimes we would get into conversations with friends during out dinners and games nights. One of the largest Fests in Canada was coming around, and someone suggested that I might do a workshop on Stoicism. So I did, and the response was phenomenal. Looking back, I can see a reason why this might be so.
For the mainstream religions, their answers for how we should behave, what the meaning and purpose of life are, and other big questions are built into their dogma, usually through sacred books or writings. Neo-paganism, like humanism and atheism, lack this centrally codified resource for answers to life's big questions. Stoicism, especially if it is allowed to evolve, provides a forum to ask these questions seriously, as well as a possible source for seeking answers. The fact that Stoicism calls for virtually no religious, supernatural or spiritual supports, makes it a great fit for just about anyone with an open mind, because it doesn't demand adherence to any dogma.
I think it's the second year you're doing this workshop, but I may be wrong. How did it start ?
Prior to the workshop at the festival, we had decided to see if there was interest in forming a study group (which we also called a workshop), to start in the fall. As part of our website, we had been working with Keith Seddon's excellent Stoic Serenity book as the foundation for an online course, with his kind permission. We decided to use these lessons as the foundation for a series of monthly workshops. With this very vague outline in place, we decided to make an announcement at the Fest.
Now, a year or so later, we are entering our second year of workshops. The participants of last year's workshops are moving on to more discussion (more on this later) and an new group has formed for the Introduction to Stoicism workshops. So far, we are running three workshops a month: two for last year's participants, and another for newcomers.
Who joins, how do you find "recruits" ? How do you advertise about it ?
Most, though not all, of the participants come from our circle of friends, and by extension their friends as well. Following the announcement at the fest, we announced the workshops through Facebook as well. We wanted these sessions to be live and face-to-face. That was important. We wanted to start a conversation that would go on for 10 months.
The response, to say the least, was overwhelming. We had over 40 people express an interest in the workshops in a 24 hour period. Since we planned to have these discussions in our home, that number was clearly more that we could handle at any one time. We decided to break into four separate groups of about 10 or so each. We expected attrition over the coming months, so we knew that the groups would become smaller over time. In order to foster a sense of camaraderie and team spirit, we named each Team after a key Stoic teacher: Team Zeno, Team Chrisyppus, Team Aurelius and Team Epictetus. At the beginning, we were running a workshop every week of the month. After the 10 months of workshops were completed, I was pleasantly surprised that we still had about half the original groups left. About half-way through the year we recombined the groups into two new teams: Team Seneca and Team Musonius.
The 'graduates' of the first year of workshops expressed an interest in continuing the workshops, so Pam and I decided to step it up a notch. We have called the second year of workshops Practical Stoicism, with a focus on implementing some of the Stoic teaching into daily practice. The workshop nature of the meetings also means that we can report our progress and failures to each other, and seek support and advice for implementing these skills on a consistent basis. We are using William Irvine's A Guide to the Good Life as our text, and we will discuss points on which we agree and disagree with the author and each other. I am looking forward to it.
We have about a dozen participants who are interested in the Introductory course this year. We have decided to keep them in a single group, expecting attrition to reduce this number to about 50% again. We may be pleasantly surprised, however, because word about what the sessions are about and how they are run has gotten out, so people coming know more about what to expect.
Could you tell us a bit about how the sessions work ? What do you do / talk about ?
To begin, we set some early ground rules for the group. Once a group had been formed, it would be considered closed. No new members would be allowed to join without the approval of the entire group. These workshops were designed to be a 'safe' place to share opinions, and I suspected that over time, people would also come to share personal trials and triumphs in their journeys of self-examination. They had to be able to trust the people around them not to share that information with the wider community. We were explicit about creating this 'safe place,' and all of the attendees agreed that discretion would be a key to their attendance.
I have been a Teacher of Adults for decades, so my experience in group facilitation, lesson preparation and discussion generation come into play. I designed each workshop, and all of the workshops combined, to follow the Gordon Training 'competence matrix' ('unconscious incompetence,' 'conscious incompetence,' 'conscious competence' and 'unconscious competence'), with the final twin goals of 'reflective competence' and 'creative competence.'
To this end, each workshop would present a Stoic principle, and a practice that could be used to lock that principle in as a guide to behaviour. I would announce the topic for the next session, and send out reading materials (again, based on the outlines of the online course) ahead of the workshops. Some of the participants would read the materials ahead of time, some did not.
The session would open at about 7 PM. We would begin by catching up on the previous month's news and experiences, and participants would share their experiences with regards to what they had learned thus far. Following this, we would start on the workshop topic. Carnegie's advice for presenting was a general rule: "Tell the audience what you're going to say, say it; then tell them what you've said." I would usually introduce some of the foundational concepts, sometimes with the aid of a white-board. We would then share in the reading of the Stoic sources. I have a few copies of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, and I would flag these ahead of time. We would then pass the books around while individuals would read a relevant passage. We would then discuss the impact or meaning, each person making comments or seeking clarification.
I was very clear from the outset that I did not hold these to be sacred in any way. These were men who, through their own studies, had come to conclusions about the way the world worked. That being said, these are human teachings, so many of them would not come as a surprise. In many cases, the Stoics would tell us things we would already know at some level. The challenge for us, of course, would be to take these 'well-known' teachings and actually put them into practice. Additionally, we could, and sometimes did, disagree with the Stoic writers on some points, without invalidating the whole. We were not attempting to form a religion, but rather have a open discussion with each other.
On the subject of religion, another thing that we were deliberate to avoid was any discussion of faith or religion in the context of the discussions. Stoicism, as I have said, requires no adherence to religious dogma of any stripe, and so the discussion of religion was quickly, firmly and kindly forestalled. As the groups tended to be a mix of different Pagans, Atheists and Agnostics, everyone agreed to and appreciated the lack of dogma in the discussions.
As a teacher of many years, I understand the dynamics of group interaction, Tuckman's familiar Team Development model1 (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning) comes into play in the formation and maintenance of each Team. Setting the ground rules early reduces much of the stress in the Storming stage. Participants fell into respectful behaviour patterns quickly, mostly due to the quality of their characters once they were comfortable that they would not be forced to take defensive postures.
About half-way through the evening, we would break for 15 - 20 minutes of coffee and snacks, which were provided by the participants. This is where the real work was happening, as participants would get to know each other, share stories and ask me or Pamela questions about specific applications of the month's principles. We would then reconvene, and the topics raised during the break would be woven into the following discussion. The session would wrap up with a refocus on the the principles and practices discussed, and lead in to the following month's topic. Workshops tended to last about 3 hours, though some would go a little longer based on discussions.
These sessions, I have been told by participants, have changed lives. People trapped in their own unconsciously destructive behaviour patterns have learned to step back and consider their choices, mostly due to the fact that they are now conscious that they can step back, and that the do have choices. The workshops have, by their very nature, begun to create a Stoic community in our area. Several participants now self-identify as Stoics, and are requesting that we host an additional informal 'coffee night,' to allow them to just hang out together and perhaps share a meal. Friendships are being formed, trust is being built, and a real desire to work together on benefit projects is coming together. In short, the Stoic community we were seeking is being formed, not through any artificial means, but at the request (sometimes demand) of the participants. They have found something that they have in common, something that transcends religious boundaries, and they wish to preserve it, to make it grow.
Is there any advice you could give to someone who would like to do the same in his/her neighbourhood ?
Running a series of workshops such as these is no easy task. It requires a willing commitment of resources and times. Preparation, communication, setting and taking down the room, follow up and continuing conversations all require attention. Advertising the workshops will also cost time, if not money. That being said, these are life changing principles, and investment will likely yield great benefits. Experience and understanding of team and group dynamics is crucial in leading any group, and it is no less so here.
On another note, as the 'messenger' of many of these teachings, there is a very real danger of being what I call 'guru-fied.' That is, some participants may come to view you as a pastor, priest or leader of some kind. We have been very conscious of this, and throughout our sessions we were careful to listen for points where we could and should be learning as well. Just like the other participants, we were still and would always be 'prokoptoi', students of Stoicism. There never were, are, and likely will ever be any Sages to whom we could go for learning, and so the best we can all do is to continuously learn from each other.
Finally, read deeply and read widely. Read as much Stoic material as you can, including materials critical of Stoicism. Moreover, read in many fields as well: psychology, sociology, physics, history. Stoicism is about the entire human experience, so as a discussion leader, you need to have many avenues available to you to delve into for clarity and application.
But most of all, lead a Stoic session because you love it. I like to say that I am 'paradoxically passionate' about Stoicism. It is true, though, for it fills me with so much serenity and joy to have a living room full of people in active discussion about what we can all do to live a more flourishing life, and then watching as the realization that that serenity and joy can be theirs as well.
Since I couldn't conclude any better than you did, I'll just thank you for your time. I am sure that many people will enjoy reading about this experience.
- A description of this model is available on this page.