Last month I, alongside the rest of the Beyond Recovery team, attended the 3PUK Conference in north London. It is the biggest conference of its kind and attracts Three Principles practitioners from across the globe and a staggering range of fields, pursuits, and professions.
I am relatively new to the Three Principles understanding, so I viewed this conference as a handy way to grasp the fundamentals better. The first thing that struck me about the conference was how incredibly light-hearted and welcoming the attendees, and the organisers were. I reckon it might be impossible to have spent a day at the conference and not make at least one new friend!
For me, the conference’s highlights weren’t the superstar speakers in the main hall, although they were great. The best nuggets of wisdom I heard shared were in the breakout rooms, where panellists with some shared niche would share how the principles impacted and guided their work and their lives. I attended talks on topics ranging from how the principles interface with different religions, how they can be utilised to help children’s mental health, how the principles can shape our understanding of conflict, and how they can uplift and empower the homeless. I could even attend a virtual event held in German, as there were many non-English talks for the burgeoning international Three Principles community.
Even while getting coffee during the breaks, I had the opportunity to share some very interesting conversations with the other attendees, all of whom brought their own unique perspectives and understandings to the table.
After three jam-packed days of talks, I truly feel like I understand the Three Principles more than ever before. However, as Socrates famously said, the more I know, the more I realise I don’t yet know…
Thom McLaughlin
