NET x about love, at work (NET Pop Up 09)

about love, at work is the latest in a series of performance, delegated performance and participatory performance art works inquiring into the nature of love initiated by Robert Laycock and inspired by the writings of author and activist bell hooks. about love, at work is a collaboration between Robert Laycock, Duncan O’Brien and Julie Scanlon.

about love, at work is an invitation to contemplate the extent to which hooks' ingredients of love can be applied to the world of work.

“The word "love" is most often defined as a noun, yet all the more astute theorists of love acknowledge that we would all love better if we used it as a verb. I spent years searching for a meaningful definition of the word "love," and was deeply relieved when I found one in psychiatrist M. Scott Peck's classic self-help book The Road Less Traveled, first published in 1978. Echoing the work of Erich Fromm, he defines love as "the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth." Explaining further, he continues, "Love is as love does. Love is an act of will-namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love." Since the choice must be made to nurture growth, this definition counters the more widely accepted assumption that we love instinctually. To truly love we must learn to mix various ingredients-care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication.” From All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks,1999

We’ll be learning a bit more about bell hooks' ideas about love, taking part in a silent coaching session about love, at work and exploring how the actions of love could help create more loving workplaces. You’ll also receive a free copy of about love, here, now, everywhere, all the time session hosting guide intended to elevate consciousness about love within our family units, workplaces, teams and other formal, informal and social groups.

About North East Together

Our collective mission here at North East Together is to create the conditions, and platform for, collaboration to become the norm in the north east and to nurture a healthier social change system. Together we can do this.

We believe that bringing people together to tackle social injustice will create positive change - in our communities, organisations and the social systems we live and work within. Our network offers mutual support, enables collaboration and inspires social leaders. We offer a series of dynamic network events; whole day events, self-organised collaborative working groups; pathways into coaching; and independent social change events. It’s for leaders from the voluntary, charity, social enterprise, education, public and private sectors. It’s for experienced, new and future leaders of organisations, work, and ideas.

North East Together is hosted by Yes We Can.

How we use your data

We use your name and email address to run the event. We will send you a confirmation email when you book, the advance information a week or so before the event, and an event follow up email. We will not use your email address for anything else. If you ask to be added to the NET mailing list when you book, we'll add your name and email address to our mailing list, which we run via JISCMail.

We will share information about how to join North East Together if you are not already a member in the confirmation, pre-event and follow up emails. You can also join at the event.