Group Analytic Contexts, Issue 77, September 2017

Newsletter – Autumn 2017 21
and at its best holds opposing forces away from each other for long
periods of time so that people may play and pursue the arts of peace.
The arts of peace belong to the temporary success of a dividing line
between opposing forces; the lull between times when the wall has
ceased to segregate good and bad.” 7
Melissa Black, Dallas, USA: Biker
As the person organizing the logistics for the bike ride from across the
Atlantic I am going to focus on some of the unusual parts of my role.
It took a great deal of imagination, some teamwork from our Berlin
member, and a little bit of luck! I enjoy the anticipation of an
adventure, so playing in my mind with hotels, luggage obstacles and
forming new friendships was a fun past time for the months leading
up to the ride. I tend to be detail oriented and a bit Type A, so it can
also be a challenge for me to play well with others when organizing
events. Thankfully, my co-organizers are well known to me and we
play on each other’s strengths very well.
David Loader, Dallas, USA: Biker
Being the only non-member of the GASI group was not as
intimidating as one might imagine because I have had the pleasure of
similar adventures with Dale Godby, Bob Bennett and of course,
Melissa. I was very intrigued to get to do this with such a diverse
group of people from different countries with different experiences
from my own. I did not have any idea of what to expect from the SDM
or median group experiences but everyone was extremely accepting
and encouraged my participation in the experience.
Teresa von Sommaruga Howard, London, UK: Biker
It was daunting in prospect and reality, but not to be missed. The idea
of biking around my father’s birth city with group analytic colleagues
and starting each day with a social dreaming matrix and ending with
a median group was almost too good to be true. Then the daunting
part. Doubts about whether I could cycle so far began to set in. So,
each day I took my bike out to cycle around my neighbourhood in
London and I did get stronger but perhaps not strong enough. I had to
7 Winnicott, D., (1986). ‘Berlin Walls’, Home Is Where We Start
From: Essays by A Psychoanalyst. Ed. Winnicott, D., Shepherd, R. &
Davis, M. New York: Norton. p. 224