By Marianne Hartley, Leader of ConsciousCafe Basel.

Hosting the first ConsciousCafe Basel was such a joy! We came together with open minds and hearts, sharing a little about ourselves and creating new connections.

We were a very international group. Two of us were in Basel. Three people were in the UK, one person in France and another in Norway.

Acknowledging Ourselves

The theme of our first meeting was 'Acknowledging Ourselves'. We asked what has changed in the past months for us and the world around us? The things we discussed included:

- What have we learned? What have we missed? What have we let go of?

- What have we cherished and been grateful for?

Being able to connect with like-minded people in different countries and sharing what is in our hearts and what is on our mind really is a beautiful gift of our times.

We looked at what these past months had taught us, the challenges we went through, the things we missed, lost, let go of, what we were grateful for and the unexpected gifts we received along the way.

Decluttering our lives

A lot of de-cluttering took place, of wardrobes and email lists. There was more appreciation of our time and the realisation that we need very little to live a happy life. There was more conscious buying and counting our blessings and being grateful for things we may have taken for granted before. Acknowledging how privileged we were and the responsibility that comes with this in making a positive and constructive difference with our time and resources.

It was a beautiful, open hearted evening of conscious conversations and seeds of new international friendships being sown. I can’t wait to host the next event on 29^th October 2020. Find out more on our Basel Group page.

I hope to see you there!

With love, Marianne