IRG Meet ups – Inspirational ‘Camp Fires’

Over the past few months I’ve been reflecting on how best to describe what IRG is, and particularly what IRG meet ups are about, as they don’t fit into an easily recognisable category. As human beings we love to label things and we need concepts to navigate our way around life, so how can I describe IRG and especially the inspirational meet-ups so that people can better understand them?

We often find ourselves describing what an IRG meet up isn’t – it’s not a club (you don’t need to be a member although we do have a membership website for those who want to connect and stay in touch online), it’s not a networking group (although people do connect and network), it’s not a business group (although business people attend and many of the discussions include people’s relationship with or dreams for their businesses), it’s not a women’s group (as we believe that the combination of  men and women attending is more positive and powerful), its not an ageist group (as we welcome everyone from teenagers to elders) and it’s not an organisation that sets out to indoctrinate others. There’s only one rule, which is that negativity is not allowed in the space and for the time we are together.

So what is IRG and what are IRG meet ups all about?

IRG is an inspirational movement leading the way to establish a new global cosmopolitan tribe of inspirational people who all want to ‘make a difference’ and contribute to creating a more humane and connected world.  The original meaning of cosmopolitan was citizen of the cosmos and I think many of our members and attendees would resonate with that label.  IRG enhances the power of individuals by bringing them together in groups that are part of a global inspirational community, where everyone is encouraged to fulfill their potential.  The individual groups meet up in different locations on a monthly basis for an inspirational experience.  Inspiration is about bringing an idea that excites us and wakes up our passion into being and by sharing this with others it helps us to set our intention, make conscious choices and take action.   By telling our stories we can create congruency between our inner selves and our outer expression, which helps to harmonise and create inner wellbeing.   We start to realise that the stories we tell ourselves and others have a direct impact upon our lives and our health so if our current story doesn’t serve us, we need to change our story.

I think of IRG inspirational meet ups as a modern day urban version of the camp fires that were so integral to indigenous tribes.  The idea of creating a circle around a camp fire, creating an atmosphere of mutual respect where people can tell their stories, is very powerful.  Although there’s no physical fire present at the IRG meet ups one can feel the build up of positive energy in the room as people share their experiences, achievements, ambitions, dreams and ideas for the future.  There’s also the opportunity to connect with others, to help and collaborate on projects or share information that could be useful to individuals or their businesses.

Often the inspirational stories we hear about at the IRG Meet Ups arise out of adversity – near death experiences, loss of limbs, broken backs, terminal or serious illnesses, divorce or relationship breakups, death of a loved one and recognition that they didn’t fulfill their own dreams, which drives us to fulfill ours in our lifetime.  Someone mentioned at the last London Meet Up that it would be great if we could wake up to our power and fulfill our potential without having to go through extreme loss, pain or life threatening experiences before we feel able to follow and fulfill our dreams.  I would like to think that the IRG Meet Ups provide a forum to help people find their purpose, passion, desire, belief and the determination to take action without having to go through an extreme threat to their existence.  And I’d like to think that the IRG Meet Ups also remind us to smell the roses whilst we are in the garden!

I believe it is very important that each of us has the opportunity to be heard.  It is not surprising to me that there has been an explosion in the number of blog sites on the net – this is a fantastic outlet for people to express themselves and write about their stories.  However I think there’s something very special about being physically heard by others in the same space. IRG inspirational meet ups give people the opportunity to tell their unique story to other people and exchange ideas. By articulating our stories we can tap into our creativity and remind ourselves that we are the authors of our life and as we become more aware of this we become more auth(or)entic.

As children we are naturally and confidently creative and inventive.  As we grow older we seem to forget that we have these abilities and even start to believe we can no longer tap into them.   How many times have you heard someone say ‘well, I’m just not creative’?  IRG inspirational Meet Ups provide a forum for us to remember and wake up to our creative and inventive nature.  When we hear how other people have lived their lives, how they’ve felt, the adversities they have faced, what they have achieved and their plans for the future – this can inspire us to be more creative and inventive with our own lives.  As we tap into our creativity we are more able to consciously choose how to respond to, or even seek out challenges and have the courage to reinvent ourselves. Often this means revisiting our childhood dreams and passions and recognising that they are important and that there’s no time better than the present to embrace them.  Reinvention is a natural process. Our bodies reinvent themselves subconsciously every second.  Now it’s time to recognise that we can reinvent or fine tune who we are and what we do and align this with our values and passions.  We can become more aware of our connectedness to everything else and the impact we have on our world and everyone in it. It’s about connecting with our inner voice, our inner power and recognising that we are defining ourselves and evolving in every moment and that we can do this consciously and make choices about the person we want to be.

To summarise IRG meet ups are:

-         Inspirational Salons with 30 – 40 people attending

-         Unique – no one meeting can ever be the same as another

-         Inspiring and positive

-         A place and time to tell our stories

-         An experience that can act as a catalyst for finding or rediscovering our passion and purpose, redefining and reinventing ourselves

-         A place and time to share, support, connect and network

-         An opportunity to celebrate people’s lives and achievements

-         An ideal time to set intentions and goals for the future

-         An opportunity to focus on being, rather than doing and having

And who comes to the IRG Meet Ups?  And who are our Members?

Actors, Adventurers, Artists, Charity workers, Choreographers, Coaches, Composers, Conductors, Dancers, Designers, Directors, Editors, Educators, Elders, Employees, Entrepreneurs, Feng Shui Practitioners, Healers, Mature People, Mentors, Musicians, NLP Practitioners, Parents, Performers, Pioneers, Producers, Professional people, Psychologists, Scientists, Sportsmen, Sportswomen, Social Activists, Students, Teachers, Therapists, Trend Leaders, Volunteers, Young People and more…

Every meet up is by definition different as every person who attends brings their own unique contribution to the evening whether they speak or not, and those that do speak share different experiences, philosophies and ideas, thereby creating a very organic and highly stimulating event.  I feel honoured to have met and listened to the stories of our members and friends around the IRG camp fires in London, Marbella and Manchester over the past nine months and believe that we can all make a significant difference to the world by showing ourselves, by being the best we can be and encouraging others to do the same. Conrad quoted Margaret Mead at the last London IRG Meet Up and I feel it is a fitting way to end this blog as it sums up our potential:

“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”