The Poet’s task

Dear Reader,

This month’s newsletter is inspired by poetry.

The poet’s
task is simple.

He looks for quiet,
and speaks to what
he finds there.​
​
David Whyte, Excerpt from The Poet

So we invite you to become a poet for a moment.
What do you hear in the quiet?

In your body?

In the world?

In your relationships?

In your dreams?

What do you find there? Make a few notes. We begin by slowing down, seeking quiet so we can hear more clearly.

We can consider other types of listening too – listening to tiny catches in our attention – micro moments we call flirts. This is catching what energies are calling us, pulling us toward them.
​
​From the bough
floating down river,
insect song.​
​
Issa (1763-1827) translated from the Japanese by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto

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​And there is that poet-like listening that appreciates the depth of what we hear. It’s one thing to listen, but something else to value it, take it seriously, deeply. This requires a shifting of awareness.

When we can drop down into that deeper listening, and with it a deeper understanding, the sediment can settle and answers to deeper questions can surface:

What is trying to be known? What might my body be saying?

How does the world need me? What is the deeper energetic calling that I can use to guide my way in the world?

Our annual community conference theme this year is Radical Listening.

“Radical” comes from the Latin: radix, which means “root”. In this conference, we want to invite a below-the -surface listening; a going deep to the root of things. At the same time, it is also a beautiful invitation into the heart and roots of Process Work. This is a gathering for anyone called to explore the numinous, the unknown.

And in true Process Work style, we will explore what we hear across multiple domains – in ourselves, our relationships and our world.

Join us for the Process Work Community Conference 2026, two days built entirely around practising this, together:

1. Learn radical listening: the kind that hears what’s underneath the words.
2. Turn the practice inward: meet the parts of yourself that are usually easiest to ignore.
3. Follow the calling: the dreams, coincidences, and flirts that are trying to get your attention.
4. Practice and sense-make with a community: not in theory, but with others doing the same work in real time. Build our collective understanding relationally in group process.

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Don’t stay on the surface. Join us in exploring the meaning and purpose beneath.

✴️WHEN THE WORLD SPEAKS: RADICAL LISTENING IN URGENT TIMES​
​When: 21 & 22 August (Friday & Saturday)
Where: Yuganbeh country, Gold Coast
Book here: https://anzpop.org/process-work-community-conference-2026/​
​

Once you’ve primed yourself for listening at the community conference, why not extend the experience by listening to the calling within:

✴️THE DREAMBODY’S CALL​

An in-person workshop exploring the connection between our body and our dreams, right around the corner on the Sunday and Monday following the conference. Come to both for a four-day deep dive.
When: 23 & 24 August (Sunday and Monday)
Where: Yuganbeh country, Coolangatta
With Dr Silvia Camastral
Book now: https://anzpop.org/training-programs/process-work-public-courses/the-dreambodys-call/​

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Or, for existing practitioners of Process Work, extend the listening directly to your work skills:

✴️PRACTICE LAB Block 3– Your Unique Therapist/ Facilitator Style​

Learn how loving up and integrating your unique quirks, strengths and challenges into your work can become your superpower and bring more ease and life into your work.
When: Saturdays 9am-12 noon AEST 19 Sept, 3 Oct, 14 Nov, 28 Nov
Where: Online
With Beck Ronkson and Dr Silvia Camastral
Book now: https://anzpop.org/training-programs/process-work-public-courses/practice-labs/​

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​

Listen to your deeper patterning over time and utilise it for impact in:

✴️LIFE MYTH AT WORK ​

Find the essential blueprint patterns in your life, rewrite your story and harness it for your life and work in the world (a taster of this will happen at the conference too).
When: 6-7 November (Friday & Saturday)
Where: Muloobinba (Newcastle NSW)
With Beck Ronkson & Bec Lang
Book now: https://anzpop.org/training-programs/process-work-public-courses/life-myth-at-work/​

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​

Respond to the world’s collective calling for healing:

✴️ACROSS THE DIVIDE: CAN WE TALK ABOUT RACISM?​

Explore listening, truth-telling and how to be a good ally in our new offering – where you can build your capacity to model ways of being and acting which are anti-racist and be more confident in countering racism in your interactions with others.

When: 24 & 25 October (Saturday & Sunday)
Where: Naarm (Melbourne)
With Colleen Clarke and Bec Lang
Book now: https://anzpop.org/training-programs/process-work-public-courses/meeting-across-the-divide/​

and

✴️TRAUMA-INFORMED FACILITATION
​Join hundreds of others who have learnt from this fantastic and grounded approach to making groups safe enough, so that people have the opportunity to hear each other well.

When: 20 and 27 October (Wednesday 9.30am-12.30pm Melb time)
Where: Online
With Liz Scarfe
Book now: https://anzpop.org/training-programs/process-work-public-courses/trauma-informed-facilitation/

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​Wherever you land among these offerings, they all come back to the same practice we started with: slowing down enough to hear what’s really there.

And to end, a gift. From the renowned poet and lover of nature, Mary Oliver

​
​

Heed her invitation:

Listen, everyone has a chance.
Is it spring? Is it morning?

Warmly,

ANZPOP

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