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Crossing the Divide:

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Where Imagination, Focus & Flow Meet

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Tanja Murphy-Ilibasic/Robin Ilibasic_Crossing the Divide

10 June 2025

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MYFest 2025

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Tanja Murphy-Ilibasic – PDB Offsite_Sept2023

Your

Workshop

Hosts

Tanja Murphy-Ilibasic

LinkedIn

Robin Ilibasic

LinkedIn

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Breakout 2mins

Turn to your neighbour

moment

What's one thing you hope to learn or take from this workshop?

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The Wild Side &

The Place of Purpose

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Global Change Days June 26, 2020

Default Mode Network

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The Wild Side

Default Mode Network

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Default Mode Network

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The Wild Side - Default Mode Network

where ideas begin to stir

  • Imaginative & Reflective Mode� Activates during daydreaming, storytelling, memory, and meaning-making.
  • Generates Insight, Possibility & Connection� This is where intuitive leaps, metaphor, and personal resonance often begin.
  • Not “Opposite” of Focus — It’s Foundational� DMN prepares the ground for purposeful work—it’s not a distraction but a source.

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Time to cross over:

            • Dreaming becomes unrelated
            • Visioning brings nothing new
            • Anxiety or overwhelm creep in

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Anti-oppositional - either one or the other

When to move to

Place of Purpose

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The Place of Purpose

Task Positive Network

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The Place of Purpose - Task Positive Network

where purpose takes shape

  • Goal-Oriented & Action-Driven Mode� Active during planning, focusing, solving, analyzing, doing.
  • Clarifies, Structures & Moves Forward� TPN builds form around what DMN surfaces—it organizes the next step.
  • Not “Better Than” Imagination — It’s Dependent On It� TPN without DMN risks becoming mechanical or misaligned.

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Anti-oppositional - either one or the other

Time to cross over:

            • Joy is lost in doing
            • Tasks become an end to themselves
            • No connection with vision
            • Space feels dry or stale
            • Frustration begins to creep because progress is slow

When to move to

The Wild Side

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F L O W

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What we mean by Flow

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  • Developed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the 1970s�
  • Describes a state of deep focus, enjoyment, and engagement�
  • Occurs when skills match the level of challenge�
  • Supports intrinsic motivation and optimal learning conditions�
  • Guides educators to design tasks that promote mastery and autonomy

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Flow — The Movement Between

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1. Flow Lives in the Crossing� For this workshop, Flow doesn't reside in just one bank.

It arises when we allow rhythm: opening, focusing, returning.

2. Neither Side Alone Sustains Flow�The Wild Side offers meaning.

The Place of Purpose offers structure.

Flow needs both.

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When have you experienced FLOW in a non-work environment?

Drop your thoughts in the chat.

FLOW

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Give an example of FLOW in your work environment?

Drop your thoughts in the chat.

FLOW

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Guided

Visualisation

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Guided Visualisation

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  • What is one image or sensation you’re carrying from either bank?
  • Was there a moment when something shifted?
  • What did you notice in yourself during the crossings - physically, emotionally, or mentally?

Tanja Murphy-Ilibasic/Robin Ilibasic_Crossing the Divide

Breakout

Reflection

10 mins

Choose 2-3 questions to reflect on

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Plenary Reflection

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Would anyone like to share anything?

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Practice Time!

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Breakout Option 1:

The Many Gateways

Goal: Experiment entering these states using non-visual approaches

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  • How might you activate The Wild Side—our imaginative mode—without meditative or closed-eye activities?

Keep in mind:

This is experiential,

not just a conversation

25 mins

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Breakout Option 1:

The Many Gateways

Instructions

  1. Discuss alternative non-visual entry points
  2. Take turns experimenting with these
  3. After each, pause to reflect:
    1. What did this open up or shift for me?

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Optional Prompts

  • What conditions help you daydream productively (sound, space, rhythm, slowness)?
  • What sensory ritual, movement, or tactile task could be a threshold to The Wild Side?

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25 mins

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Breakout Option 2:

Flow Lab - Crossing & Returning

Goal: Group experiment with switching between The Wild Side and The Place of Purpose through repeated, internally guided crossings

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  • How could a group approach multiple crossings to achieve a more flow-like state? With a defined ‘guide’ or even by taking turns to choose the moment to cross again?

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Keep in mind:

This is an experiential experiment,

not just a conversation ;)

25 mins

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Breakout Option 2:

Flow Lab - Crossing & Returning

Instructions

  1. Agree with the group what the experiment will be
  2. Allow each person to try something out
  3. After each experiment, pause to reflect:
    1. What did this open up or shift for me?

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Optional Prompts

  • The Wild Side: What’s unformed but present?
  • The Wild Side: What could this be if there is no right or wrong?
  • The Place of Purpose: What might be useful or doable?
  • The Place of Purpose: What one action needs capturing?

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25 mins

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  • Which part of the experiment felt most natural to you? Which part felt unfamiliar or challenging?
  • If you were to revisit this practice in your own setting, what would you keep? What would need to change?
  • Do you see the potential to achieve Flow in your work contexts?
  • Which formats could you imaging using - individual, group, short, extended?

Tanja Murphy-Ilibasic/Robin Ilibasic_Crossing the Divide

Breakout

Reflection Options 1 + 2

10 mins

Choose 2-3 questions to reflect on

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Final Plenary Reflection

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  • What is something unexpected that has emerged for you?
  • What is one concrete step you’d like to try out in your own professional context, inspired by today?
  • Who might you want to explore one of these crossing practices with?
  • What unfinished idea or approach from today are you curious to test?

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What would you like to share with us?