(See Japanese translation 理事会最新情報 2023 年 7 月: PDF)
On July 11, the Board held a meeting with Coordinators and Coordinators-in-Training to discuss the challenge we are all facing with automatic translations of the word “Focusing,” as well as terms like “felt sense.” Coordinators shared several strategies that they have used including capitalizing “Focusing” to signal its unique meaning, or using the term “Gendlin’s Focusing.” The conversation broadened to talking about difficulties Coordinators face in trying to find words in their native language that carry the same meaning or sense as the English words. Often, using the original English words like “felt sense” works best to convey the special meaning rather than translating them. We TIFI Board members were very appreciative of the conversation, the ideas, and the shared challenge that we face. We appreciated learning together how to address translation issues, both automated and human-generated. The Board will continue to discuss a variety of approaches TIFI will try on its website and will rely on native speakers to provide feedback on the strategies that seem to work best in their language. If you are a Coordinator or Coordinator-in-Training, you can find the recording of that meeting on the Coordinators-only page of focusing.org.
At the July TIFI Board meeting, in addition to reflecting on the July 11 meeting with Coordinators, we were happy to re-appoint Dr. Donata Schoeller to the Eugene Gendlin Center for Research in Experiential Philosophy and Psychology, as recommended by the Gendlin Center Steering Committee. Donata has a distinguished career as a scholar of Gendlin, and her courses with TIFI are among our most popular. She had previously been a member of the Gendlin Center committee from the beginning before stepping back, and we’re glad she is now able to return.
In order to enhance communication between the Board and the ILC, we’ve been sending our meeting agendas and minutes to ILC members, and the ILC has been sending one of its members to Board meetings every other month. This has given us the chance to discuss the historic roles of the Board and ILC, and any changes that may be needed. This month we were delighted to have Laura Bavalics with us as the ILC representative. Both groups agree that these increased interactions have been very helpful.
Finally, the Board heard second quarter financial and progress reports from Executive Director Catherine Torpey. The Board was pleased to celebrate the successful completion of moving the Gendlin Online Library to focusing.org, thanks to a generous grant from the Sparks Fund as well as many of your individual donations.
Thank you to all members of TIFI for your continuing support. Please contact us at any time by writing us at [email protected], or stay up to date with us at focusing.org/board.