You still have time to sign up for Trip Barthel’s free Web Talk on Sunday, June 5. The topic is “Creativity in Consultation.” Who among us hasn’t wished for more skills in consultative situations? This is your chance to learn some new things. “The most difficult problems require the most creative solutions,” Trip says. “This webinar will connect the Bahá’í writings with the science and the practice of creativity and show how to apply it in consultation.” “Creativity,” he says, “is not nine people talking around a table. Creativity begins in isolation. Dreams enable our creativity, for subjects who dreamed during a nap resolved 40 percent more puzzles than those who did not.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself says (in Paris Talks 54:9: 187) that, “It is an axiomatic fact that while you meditate you are speaking with your own spirit. In that state of mind you put certain questions to your spirit and the spirit answers: the light breaks forth and the reality is revealed.” “The source of every new idea is the same, Trip says; “it is a network of neurons shifting into an unfamiliar pattern. Knowing this, how do we create an environment of creativity? We will end the webinar with some simple activities that promote higher levels of creativity.” The June Web Talk will begin with a devotional provided by Amalia and Rob Geibitz, performers living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Trip Barthel, M.A.C.R. (Antioch University), has been teaching and practicing mediation and facilitation around the world since 1997. He has taught at the National Judicial College, the University of Nevada, Reno, and Shivaji University in Pune, India. He was an adjunct faculty for five years at JiaoTong University in Shanghai and Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. He has given training programs in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Russia, the Czech Republic, and England. He was the Founder and past Executive Director (1999–2009) of the Neighborhood Mediation Center in Reno, Nevada. Trip has conducted over 400 mediations and 50 arbitrations and trained over 3,000 people in courses ranging from 2 to 40 hours. Trip is past President of the Nevada Dispute Resolution Coalition and a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution. Trip serves on the Advisory Board for Mediators Beyond Borders and the Asia Pacific Mediation Forum. Trip was a trainer for the Bahá’í Justice Society 40-hour Mediation Program from 1997 to 2007. He has written two Bahá’í books—Golden Choices and Dynamic Consultation.
