BeautyDialogues

In Dresden, Seeped in Beauty

I'm in Dresden with World Café friends, helping to design a very unusual event that will be held later this year here in Europe. I'll write more about this as it evolves but right now I just wanted to share some of the beauty that my host and friend here in Dresden has created. Sabine Soeder is not only ravishingly lovely but everything that comes from her is Beauty. She and the extremely talented and SMART Chris Chopyak are visually recording our conversations as we/they speak and it is absolutely catalytic having these images to reflect our collective meaning-making AS IT IS HAPPENING.

Sabine's husband Ulrich led us in an exercise this morning where we went inside and listened for the form that could represent what we were feeling emerging in ourselves. When we'd translated that form into a physical gesture/movement, someone suggested we then make an image of what we were noticing to show to each other. The tree above was Sabine's.

It's a New Day!

Like about 300 million other Americans and countless others all over the world, I spent much of this historic day glued to the TV for the inauguration ritual celebrations. Like so many others I found myself choking up with tears and the courage to hope for a new day in America. I felt pride and a sense of gratitude towards my countrymen and women who helped elect this good man.

In his powerfully direct yet compassionate and inclusive inaugural speech, Obama didn't balk at the immense amount of work in front of us, nor did he give us false promises that it would be easy. But I couldn't help but feel if anyone can pull this self-obsessed nation together and inspire us to make the changes that are imperative for our survival, and the survival of others on this planet, he can.

Part of the excitement for me is how beautifully Obama's election is galvanizing the people and organizations I am part of. Basking in the glow of the new president's idealism, there seems to be an explosion of optimism and a feeling that this is "our time"... to have the conversations we've needed to have, to reach out to each other, work together, and begin to rebuild our country.

Just this evening, I received this video from the new Soul of Money website, revealing the silver lining in the current economic crisis that no one seems to be acknowledging yet.

Snow and Pattern Language

I've been in Eugene Oregon for the last week or so, answering an invitation by the extraordinary Tree Bressen who'd asked me to join her and a dozen others to explore the idea of pattern language in group process arts. Given my work with the World Cafe, which is based on the pattern language of its seven design principles, and the pattern language project I'm involved in with the Power of Place Collaborative, the invitation was definitely intriguing.

My personal interest in the subject goes beyond the specifics of group process arts, in that I'm looking for a pattern language for catalyzing collective transformation online. I'd hoped we would touch on that as well, given the presence of the inspired visionary Tom Atlee and the 3-4 other folks who also work online - John Abbe, Kaliya Hamlin, Bill Aal & John Kelly. Obviously I didn't read the invitation closely enough, since that didn't happen, but I wasn't disappointed (and I haven't given up on the idea of a pattern language for collective transformation either).

As it turned out, the idea of actually coming up with a pattern language for the process arts was far too ambitious for even a full week together, but it was well worth our time to learn what we did about the process of co-evolving the beginnings of a pattern language for this field. There is ongoing work being done to collaboratively evolve the project and share it with others, so stay tuned for more.

One of the most exciting parts of the journey, however, was the snowstorm that came in with me - four inches the night I arrived - and stayed the whole week, turning the roads into an ice rink and the scenery into a winter wonderland. The snow-covered lawns and trees were exquisite, so pristine and lovely in the mornings and glistening with drama in the evenings next to the Christmas lights of the houses. All this snow was a totally unexpected and unusual occurrence for the Oregonians, and an especially delightful treat for this California girl.

Conversation & Business

I just read a post by blogger /consultant Chris Brogan on Cafe-Shaped Conversations, where he explores how social media allows small intimate conversations and how that might or might not be what corporations are interested in, and when they are, how that might not be such a great idea for the rest of us.

As Community Tech Steward of the World Café, I  know that conversation about things that matter is not just a marketing strategy, but one of the keys to human survival. It is in large part conversation (on a number of levels) that will carry us through the formidable global challenges that stand before us now. And online communication tools will no doubt make a key contribution to how we have those conversations.

How exciting it will be to have a President who really understands the power of the individual voice ... I can't wait to see how Obama's presidency will effect participatory citizenship and this whole area. Online interaction needs to become a cultural meme that goes beyond digital natives and "geeky types" like me if it is to fulfill its potential.

But back to business, what Brogan and the World Café are calling Café Conversations (small intimate interactions that can connect with and feed into larger collective awareness) are important to large and small companies for many reasons beyond product sales and marketing.

Conversation is now becoming recognized as a core business competency and World Cafés are hosted in corporations just as often as they are with health and educational institutions, government, neighborhood groups, and anywhere else that conversation can increase communication, address challenges or help build a sense of community. It's only a matter of time until many of these conversations are happening online.

You've probably noticed that more and more conferences are moving to an interactive model, based on small group conversation. Increasingly, conference organizers are realizing that attendees are tired of "talking heads". There is so much more to be gained by an approach that calls on the collective intelligence gathered in the room, and engages everyone in a conversation where the "experts" and those in the audience (who are often equally as knowledgeable) are on a par.

So what I'm saying is that there's an analogy here that expands the power of conversation and online communications way out beyond marketing and product sales for businesses, and it's still just beginning.

Mindful Wandering

One of my favorite thinkers/bloggers out there, Dave Pollard, recently shared his association between "slow blogging" as defined by Barbara Ganley and what his friend Chris Lott calls "mindful wandering". Here's an excerpt from Dave's post:

"The idea is to see blogging, which is really just a new way of recording your thoughts in a diary, as a meditative practice, taking the time to ponder the meaning of what you're reading, thinking and writing, letting your mind meander in thoughtful and creative ways to "make sense" of it."

The photo above was taken by FireHawk Hulin of his wife Pele Rouge and I, taking a break from an informal writing retreat we set up with each other to do just that.

It was exquisite, and I can't imagine anything better than to spend more time exactly like this... Walking, looking with fresh eyes at what is around me; seeing the juxtapositions of line and light and color and following them with my camera - like a dream or a story without words.

It's such a pleasure to let my thoughts wander over the things I've seen or read or heard recently and listen for the patterns I sense emerging between them; to what is becoming clearer, or where new questions are surfacing. I crave conversation about these things with other thinking, aware, sensitive people, and I love the experience, the artful practice, of composing something tangible - a blog post, a story or poem, a finished photograph, a video or slideshow - from these elements.

I recently advised one of my clients to make reflective writing part of her daily practice, even if what she writes doesn't always make it to a blog post. Simply to take an hour every morning, or every evening, and contemplate what has meaning in this moment, or reflect on what carried energy in this day.

I can't wait to see what comes of this from and for her.
Hmmmm. Maybe it's time I listened to my own advice. :-)

Thoughtful Citizens

Pretending I was still in my 20s, I stayed up until 4am the other night putting together an e-Book called Thoughtful Citizenship: A Guidebook for Decision-Making and Participation (Download ThoughtfulCitizenship-eBook.pdf - 670k) and a website to house it & other great resources.

The guidebook is a non-partisan call to action and was written by a number of Berrett Koehler authors (including Juanita Brown and the World Café community) who contributed their thinking on ways to become more consciously involved in posing and engaging the great questions of our times.

 Marilee Adams from the Inquiry Institute, who sponsored this project, wanted to get something out before the US election but the work she's commisioned will remain a valuable resource far beyond that important event. It behoves us all to learn to become more thoughtful citizens, no matter where we are or who sits in the oval office.

Big Sky

I've just returned from Santa Fe, where the big sky filled me with inspiration. New Mexico is one of those places where land magic is most palpable, and in this occasion it was accompanied by some powerful people magic as well.

I was at a retreat for Berrett Koehler authors (you've heard me rant about their newsletter), put on by the BK Author's Co-op. Their theme for this year's (their 8th) retreat was "creating community".  I find this theme/meme particularly compelling right now.

In all the uncertainty of our current economic and political climate, one thing that remains crystal clear is the need for community. It's never been more important to come together, collectively and collaboratively, to face the challenges and opportunities of our time.

The BK community is a particular species of human being. Each one is an author of a book that is collaboratively chosen by a team consisting of BK's exemplary President Steve Piersanti, Senior Editor Johanna Vondeling and many other members of the BK staff and community. The authors each have something really valuable to share about a subject in alignment with BK's mission: "a community dedicated to creating a world that works for all".  That means the BK community is made of intelligent, thinking people who care deeply about the world and have demonstrated the willingness to share the wisdom they've gleaned.

I'm blessed to work with many of these luminaries and call them friends; David Isaacs and Juanita Brown of the World Café, the extraordinary Alan Briskin, and new friend and colleague Marilee Adams of the Inquiry Institute. At least two more of my dearest friends, Craig Neal of Heartland Circle and David Sibbet, are soon to be BK authors and I too will be a contributing author to an upcoming 2nd edition of the World Café book, writing a chapter on how the internet and online communications have helped us to develop the World Café community and support conversations that matter all over the world.

The BK community of authors is not only writing books about what matters most in today's world, essential and important as that role is; they are also taking collective action in a number of ways.

One of the independent projects that came out of this year's retreat was an initiative that draws authors together - whether or not they are published through BK - to support Barack Obama in the upcoming election. If you're interested in adding your name or passing it on to others who might be interested in doing so, please have a look at authors4obama.com.

It's a big sky out there, and BK luminaries are helping to light it up.

Digital Mindfullness

As part of my recent focus on living a more balanced life (as opposed to continuing on in the over-scheduled madness of what I will now call "my past"), I'm implementing a number of practices to sustain my good intentions.

These include giving myself more time to read, one of the elemental pleasures of my “real life” (the one I've decided to claim), and what is perhaps even more exquisite, to talk about what I’m reading with other intelligent human beings (that's you! :-).

To this end, I recently caught up with several articles I’d laid aside until there was "time" for them... and I found some interesting correspondences between them.

Reading a piece on digital identity and security in the New York Times, "Brave New World of Digital Intimacy" by Clive Thompson, the last few paragraphs piqued my interest:

“It is easy to become unsettled by privacy-eroding aspects of awareness tools. But there is another — quite different — result of all this incessant updating: a culture of people who know much more about themselves.

Many of the avid Twitterers, Flickrers and Facebook users I interviewed described an unexpected side-effect of constant self-disclosure. The act of stopping several times a day to observe what you’re feeling or thinking can become, after weeks and weeks, a sort of philosophical act. It’s like the Greek dictum to “know thyself,” or the therapeutic concept of mindfulness. (Indeed, the question that floats eternally at the top of Twitter’s Web site — “What are you doing?” — can come to seem existentially freighted. What are you doing?)

Having an audience can make the self-reflection even more acute, since, as my interviewees noted, they’re trying to describe their activities in a way that is not only accurate but also interesting to others: the status update as a literary form.”

What a marvelous observation and an altogether different perspective on the opportunities opened up by web 2.0...

I've certainly found that writing regular blog posts increases the depth of my own self-knowledge and understanding; why not extend that mindfulness further and consciously apply the same self-awareness in some of my other digital communications? 

Then, in the latest Shambhala Sun, an article from Pema Chodron, called “Waking up to Your World”:

“One of the most effective means for working with that moment when we see the gathering storm of our habitual tendencies is the practice of pausing, or creating a gap. We can stop and take three conscious breaths, and the world has a chance to open up to us in that gap. We can allow space into our state of mind.”

This strikes me as a distinct window for opening the opportunity inherent in Twitter's question "What am I doing?" as the ultimate mindfulness exercise.

I've mentioned my "slow work" group; one of the members has been using the practice Pema suggests throughout his day as a way to stay awake to the habitual patterns of his normal workday, and interestingly he is also just discovering the world of social media and beginning to Twitter. The other day he told me about a group of people on Ning who are using Twitter to aid them in a similar mindfulness practice, as a way to check in and support each other throughout the day. They're called Twit2Fit.

There are of course all kinds of purposes to which one can put social media, but using Twitter to develop self- awareness brings a whole new dimension to the digital evolution.

Maturana, Love & Language

My friend (and co-founder of the World Cafe) Juanita Brown has long espoused the extraordinary wisdom of Chilean biologist/philosopher Humberto Maturana. She recently attended one of his symposiums, and wrote up her notes in Conversation as a Co-Evolutionary Force.

I was very struck by her post; these excerpts in particular - about what it is to be human and what the capacity to language makes possible - feel full of power & potential:

"As humans we are born in the trust of loving and in being loved–within an ecology of the natural world and within the larger living cosmos." Love is the legitimate co-arising of the other in the relational space between us.  What we understand as humanness are relations conserved on and in love over many generations of our co-existence."

"We live in the braiding of emotions and languaging in our manner of living together.  In this coordination through language, certain consensus or agreements appear as"reality" and the objects we understand as "real" appear.

 Words are not trivial - words are the nodes or elements of networks of conversation. Language is the coordination of doings, not a symbolic act  as we commonly understand it. With one word I can follow one path and with another a different path.  Our languaging distinguishes a way of inhabiting a human community and culture."

"A person who reflects creates new worlds. All distinctions are made by an observer. Our capacity for reflection in language is one essence of our humanness.  We are human beings that emerged with the capacity to reflect in language and conversations and in that we generate worlds."

Rituals for Healthy Living

My friend Ashley Cooper, who is Easily Amazed and one of the co-founders of the Beauty Dialogues, has been working on something really interesting lately. In a true expression of "slow community" she sent out an invitation to everyone she knew, asking us to share our practices or rituals for creating balance and well-being in our lives. She got zillions of fabulous responses, and published them in a blog called Rituals for Healthy Living.

And the question is still open! What are the rituals YOU use to bring health and vitality and joy and balance to YOUR life? Send them to Ashley and she'll add them to her growing list of positive ways to support Life in and around us.