SALT: where does it begin and where does it end?

[Phil]

Recently, I had a discussion with Lawan about how we should introduce the idea of SALT. It is easy to see SALT as a set of steps. First we support,
then we appreciate, then we learn and then we transfer (or something like
that). 

What we decided was that the letters don't represent separate
activities. So you don't have to listen and then appreciate. You are
appreciating as you listen. And then as you transfer, you are automatically
learning because you are listening and so on. 

Today Lawan wrote in response to Chandra’s blog that for her SALT began with listening:

When you "Listen" you are also showing your "Appreciation" by paying your "Attention" to the speaker which can give a very good "Support" to the speaker to feel more confidence that their story is interesting enough to be able to catch the attention of the listeners.

While "Listening", you probably also have some questions and by "Asking" questions to clarify your understanding and to be able to "Share" your ideas and your experiences to contribute to the discussion can also "Stimulate" the speaker to "Talk" and to "Share"
more...... "from the heart" when they feel "Trustable" and comfortable from a safety environment that you have just created with all the elements in "SALT" that you've just used during the discussion. Fromthis environment, both you and the speaker will be able to "Learn" from each other from your both "Sharing". Then from this"Learning", you both will be able to "Transfer" what you have "Learn" to your own communities/contexts or even be "Transformed" by "Learning" during the discussion with both sides of "Listening" and "Sharing". And hopefully, the "Learning" by "Listening" to someone's story together with "Sharing" yours ideas and experiences may leads to some "Actions" to response to the issue that you've discussed as well.

And I think this is a beautiful exploration of SALT showing how all of the pieces blend together into one way of looking at the world.

I have tried do something similar to explore how I saw SALT and this is what I found. I
start with Learn.

If I am going to learn from the experience of others, then I have to listen carefully. And when I listen carefully to an individual or a group, I show that I appreciate their achievements. And when I appreciate theirachievements, they feel supported and so continue with their actions and they are stimulated to do more. And as I listen and learn, it is natural for me to share what I have learned from my own experiences and from those of others. And as I learn-and-share, I transfer.

I would be very interested to see how others link together the different elements of SALT.

Perhaps there will be common themes or perhaps there will be great diversity.

Phil

[Rituu B. Nanda]

Dear Phil,

Listening and learning happens simultaneously but I think that when I consciously try to learn I tend to pick much more when I am just a passive listener.

Can I ask you a question? For instance in a SALT visit you ask a query from a community member whose language you don't understand. What happens when he looks at you and answers your query? Are you listening? what is the thought process in your mind?

Thanks.

Rituu

[Myrna A. Maglahus]

Wow, interesting strings of responses. Thanks Phil for starting this conversation. I kind of agree with everyone.

Like what Elvis and Laurence says, SALT is beyond the meanings of the letters. It is "life" of "being in the moment" and "respecting that moment" and "valuing that moment as a huge opportunity for becoming a better version of oneself".

But there are moments, when I become impatient, in a rush, and the meanings of the letters help to remind me to take it slow, listen, appreciate etc. As I say the meaning of each letter out loud, somehow my body and mind follows. So Lawan's version is also helpful to dissect SALT. Along the way, I develop other meanings for SALT. Words that have special meaning to me or are common in my language.

When I introduce SALT, I introduce it not as a step, but as a whole. Because, in reality, things kind of happen all at once. I do not know when it begins or when it ends. When you listen, you never stop listening. When you appreciate, you appreciate all the way.

Thank you and I enjoyed reading the replies.

[Phil]

Myrna,
I would be very interested to hear about how you introduce SALT in this way. I think that the more that the Constellation learns about how to introduce this idea, the more successful we will be. If it is easier for you, perhaps you would prefer to talk about it over Skype.
Best regards
Phil

[Younoussa Diarra]

Bonjour
J'ai essayé de traduire pour voir si j'ai une bonne compréhension du texte anglais

Récemment, j’ai eu une discussion avec Lawan à propos de comment nous devrions introduire l’idée de SALT. C’est facile de voir la SALT comme une marche en escaliers. Primo : nous soutenons, après nous apprécions, ensuite nous apprenons et enfin nous transférons (ou quelque de ce genre)

Merci

Youn

[Phil]

Nous soutenons et puis nous transférons.

Mais quand nous apprécions, est-ce que nous soutenons?
Et quand nous apprécions, est-ce que nous apprenons?
Et quand nous apprécions, est-ce que nous transférons?
Et quand nous apprécions, est-ce que nous nous transformons?

Ces questions ne sont pas des questions.
Ces questions ne sont pas des problèmes.
Ces questions sont pour moi la beauté de l’idée SALT

Merci younoussa

[Younoussa Diarra]

Merci Phil

Et cette beauté n'est autre chose que le caractère non statique de la SALT autrement dit son dynamisme en spirales.
C'est vraiment beau!

[Phil]

Le dynamisme en spirales.

C'est vraiment beau.

L’idée a crée pour moi une très belle journée.

Merci a toi.

[Olivia Munoru]

It was really enjoyable to read everyone's responses. It seems that the concept of SALT has a strong influence over all of us, which says something in itself!

I like this conversation that Lawan and Phil have started, because it takes us back to the very core. Like Laurence says, a SALT visit is not about learning of technical aspects of a community but rather about experiencing their humanity.

For me, SALT is multi-dimensional. On one plane we have the acts of sharing, appreciating, learning and so on.... For me (still a level 3 learner) these acts are something I still must actively do.... But I cherish those moments when I suddenly realise that it is becoming more natural... when the letters of SALT begin to melt together.

On another plane we have that experience we get when we are appreciated or listened-to, i.e we are the subject of SALT. It is often simultaneous with the first plane... which has led me to realise that SALT is in no way linear.

I'd like to suggest that there is also a 3rd dimension. This consists of the deep emotional and even spiritual bonding we experience when we truly connect with people through SALT. It transcends words.... and thus can even occur in silence. It embodies not just people but our environment, the atmosphere and the setting.

Perhaps, for fear of sounding narcissistic, I could suggest even a 4th dimension. This is Self Reflection. In my experience, when I practise SALT, when it is practised on me and when I connect with others at the deepest levels it often leads to self reflection and personal growth....

Has anyone else experienced this?

Liv

[Phil]

Olivia,

Your note has helped me to try to grasp at something that I've been struggling with for a while.

There is indeed your first dimension that looks at what we do. We learn, we appreciate, we transfer....

But what soon becomes clear is the process goes round in a loop. We learn and we share.
And then what becomes even clearer is that this is not really going round in a loop; the process is not sequential.
But the process of learning and sharing is simply happening, something that I would like to describe as we learn-and-share.
And in the same way, we-appreciate-and we-are-appreciated.
Perhaps your second dimension.

And when this happens well, this leads to the exhilaration that you describe so well in your third dimension.

And then I think that there is your very un-narcissistic fourth dimension. We transform and we are transformed. We have helped each other to grow.

I don't think that this is very clear yet, but I will keep working on it.

Phil

[Jean-Louis Lamboray]

Yes, Liv

Your description resonates with my experience; Yes SALT can be experienced in silence. There may be moments when "everything stops"; there are no processes anymore. Krishanmurti writes about this in his book: Freedom from the known"....

[Elvis Simamvwa]

Reading the same book and same page is the beginning! Have been shocked by this every time I get feedback. So I now start with appreciating the fellas time,health and thought processes. Remembering all the time we are sharing capacities