Reflecting on Aristotle’s Ethics, Forester says that, to continue learning through
our engagement practices, we need to reach out an arm of friendship to
each other. Offerings of friendship in the planning context, he contends, may
sometimes be through ‘appropriate stories’ or those stories that bring ‘knowledge,
empathy, thoughtfulness and insight to bear on our particular situation,
needs and possibilities’.22 Friends also hold up a mirror, as a river to a face, to
show us who we are in the context of our work and our values. By listening
to the detailed complexities of our situation, they allow us the opportunity
to emote, spin circles of story and reflection around ourselves and eventually
dream new possibilities and insights. These possibilities help us to understand
more deeply a process we experienced or to address an ongoing issue.