Dear Community,
That is who we are! Lynne Twist's words are in my heart and so are you. I realized today that my stand is all about community. I was so excited to read Sheila Gore's reply to my email about the morning. Thank you so much, Sheila, from the UK. When you said KEEP ON BLOGGING, it lifted me too! That is what we are all about...community.
We just had the greatest talent show! What an awesome creative group. We miss you all! All of you out there are part of the fun too even if your bodies are not here.
Marianne Hale sent us the most beautiful slide show. It was so moving as our finale. The last 2 slides...Gratitude and Thank You!
Saturday, June 16
Lynn Twist on Taking A Stand
Lynne dropped in after our Open Space session to speak for 40 minutes. Wow! I never thought about taking a stand this way. Here is what comes out of her passion as she stands before us:
It is just so clear that the Symposium is what everyone is wanting. In many ways it gives people a sense of security within themselves. It gives people a sense of blessed unrest and a state of peace.
Lynne is working on a project for 7 women Nobel Peace Laureates. Six of them have come together (one of them cannot as she is under house arrest in Burma) to combine resources to help other peace activists. They were blown away by the mission of Symposium and they will be taking it. They are people like you and they are coming together with a bigger vision to help all of us. The most powerful thing that they could do is to get their communities exposed to the Symposium.
People around the whole world are feeling a state of fear and worry which is a form of negative prayer. The symposium helps people transcend their anger, fear, hatred. The Symposium takes people out of worry and gives us a recognition that we are not flawed, we are just not seeing it right. Mother Theresa says, “Fear is not the opposite of love, it is the absence of love.” When you fall in love with the human family, that fear gets displaced with love.
When you take a stand you stop having a point of view to a point of having vision. Taking a stand is a whole domain which is quite different than taking a position which always generates its opposite. When a position gets held strongly, it gets more and more entrenched. One gets more caught. Things polarize more and that creates an escalation of right vs. wrong, for or against.
When we find in ourselves taking a stand we are not coming from positioning. There is space for you, you are uplifted by it, and elevated the quality of the dialogue. Positioning creates the opposite. Mahatma Gandhi took a stand for humanity. Stand takers rarely have a position of authority. They derive their authority out of the stand that they have taken. There is room for everyone’s position within it.
You are stand takers. You are no longer only about me. Stand takers join a domain of distinction that allows them to have an uncommon wisdom. This stand is about vision which makes room for others. The Nobel women are no different than you. They were shocked when they got the Nobel prize because they thought they were just regular people.
I saw those facilitators standing in front of the room today. That thing you call Open Space is messy, disorganized and we are still doing our best. To the point of ridiculous, we often are crazy, doing as much as we can do. But we stand here in vision. Each of you has a vision which is way bigger than yourselves.
All the people in the world who have come before, that have done something for me, for you, for your grandchildren, they all had this vision. My granddaughter can vote because some women took a stand.
Of all the quotes in the Symposium, the one which gets me most is by David Ulansey, “We have the opportunity to live the most meaningful lives that humankind has ever had.”
I bow to you because you are the pioneers. It is messy. It is untidy. It takes time. It is inconvenient. It’s annoying, It’s expensive. But when you are enlisted it frees you up. It is a liberation, then you can find your integrity inside of it, because you have surrendered to the vision. If you fight it is difficult, if you surrender to it, you are carried. We are the ones with the willingness to carry humanity.
One of the greatest of Pachamama’s accomplishments is our body of facilitators. You are the cadres…the barefoot doctors. You are humanity’s imaginal cells waking up and waking everybody else up. You are the DNA of the butterfly. You are creating the clusters, as we say in the symposium, which will generate a new system for humanity.
The rest of the world, traditional institutions are no longer relevant and not really sustainable. They are beginning to dissolve into the nutritive soup out of which will grow an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet.
It is just so clear that the Symposium is what everyone is wanting. In many ways it gives people a sense of security within themselves. It gives people a sense of blessed unrest and a state of peace.
Lynne is working on a project for 7 women Nobel Peace Laureates. Six of them have come together (one of them cannot as she is under house arrest in Burma) to combine resources to help other peace activists. They were blown away by the mission of Symposium and they will be taking it. They are people like you and they are coming together with a bigger vision to help all of us. The most powerful thing that they could do is to get their communities exposed to the Symposium.
People around the whole world are feeling a state of fear and worry which is a form of negative prayer. The symposium helps people transcend their anger, fear, hatred. The Symposium takes people out of worry and gives us a recognition that we are not flawed, we are just not seeing it right. Mother Theresa says, “Fear is not the opposite of love, it is the absence of love.” When you fall in love with the human family, that fear gets displaced with love.
When you take a stand you stop having a point of view to a point of having vision. Taking a stand is a whole domain which is quite different than taking a position which always generates its opposite. When a position gets held strongly, it gets more and more entrenched. One gets more caught. Things polarize more and that creates an escalation of right vs. wrong, for or against.
When we find in ourselves taking a stand we are not coming from positioning. There is space for you, you are uplifted by it, and elevated the quality of the dialogue. Positioning creates the opposite. Mahatma Gandhi took a stand for humanity. Stand takers rarely have a position of authority. They derive their authority out of the stand that they have taken. There is room for everyone’s position within it.
You are stand takers. You are no longer only about me. Stand takers join a domain of distinction that allows them to have an uncommon wisdom. This stand is about vision which makes room for others. The Nobel women are no different than you. They were shocked when they got the Nobel prize because they thought they were just regular people.
I saw those facilitators standing in front of the room today. That thing you call Open Space is messy, disorganized and we are still doing our best. To the point of ridiculous, we often are crazy, doing as much as we can do. But we stand here in vision. Each of you has a vision which is way bigger than yourselves.
All the people in the world who have come before, that have done something for me, for you, for your grandchildren, they all had this vision. My granddaughter can vote because some women took a stand.
Of all the quotes in the Symposium, the one which gets me most is by David Ulansey, “We have the opportunity to live the most meaningful lives that humankind has ever had.”
I bow to you because you are the pioneers. It is messy. It is untidy. It takes time. It is inconvenient. It’s annoying, It’s expensive. But when you are enlisted it frees you up. It is a liberation, then you can find your integrity inside of it, because you have surrendered to the vision. If you fight it is difficult, if you surrender to it, you are carried. We are the ones with the willingness to carry humanity.
One of the greatest of Pachamama’s accomplishments is our body of facilitators. You are the cadres…the barefoot doctors. You are humanity’s imaginal cells waking up and waking everybody else up. You are the DNA of the butterfly. You are creating the clusters, as we say in the symposium, which will generate a new system for humanity.
The rest of the world, traditional institutions are no longer relevant and not really sustainable. They are beginning to dissolve into the nutritive soup out of which will grow an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet.
Crying
I just saw Lynn Twist and am so impressed by her ability to show her vulnerability. I'll call this the crying conference,and it'swonderful. Starting with Van Jones and everyone else onthe first day. I have found my tribe. I am a crier to--often get up in front of people and the more passionate the subject, the more likely I am to be in tears.
Question:
What's the role of tears and deep grieving for the new world we want to see. Perhaps the flood waters are both inner and outer.
Mike Seymour
Question:
What's the role of tears and deep grieving for the new world we want to see. Perhaps the flood waters are both inner and outer.
Mike Seymour
Dancing with the unexpected
What a disappointment! Paul Hawken left. He might be back tomorrow but he could not wait for the needed 200 ft. computer cable to be delivered. While this was being resolved, we broke into small groups for discussion. Then we regrouped to engage in a wee bit of collective problem solving over the dilemma of how to fit in the unveiling of the new adaptation of ATD for businesses when it did not fit into the open space design. There are 28 self selected topics posted on the wall ready to go for the break out groups and time is marching on.
Democracy! We voted on a compromise and are now listening to a team of 4 people deliver a full 1 hr presentation on a fabulous prototype for the new business Symposium. It’s great news too! The emphasis is on the underlying assumptions about the relation of business to society and creating new narratives for business. There are lots of new stories emerging in business introducing the new paradigm in a business context.
Democracy! We voted on a compromise and are now listening to a team of 4 people deliver a full 1 hr presentation on a fabulous prototype for the new business Symposium. It’s great news too! The emphasis is on the underlying assumptions about the relation of business to society and creating new narratives for business. There are lots of new stories emerging in business introducing the new paradigm in a business context.
Arts and the Symposium
Hello to those who are not here to enjoy this energy and to be in the company of so many talented and committed people. Last night we had the opportunity to create harmony... not in the way that so many "making a difference" people think of harmony BUT in a literal music way. Over 100 people singing songs from all over the planet... songs of liberation and joy. Led Doug Van Koss (a master at bringing out the voice of those not yet present to their musical contribution) we created enough sound and harmony to fill, at least, the bay area and maybe you even heard us from your front porch or bedroom.
Each individual piece of this gathering is worth the trip.
Each individual piece of this gathering is worth the trip.
Your Planet Needs You
John Symes, one of our very own facilitators, has written a fabulous book called Your Planet Needs You – A Handbook for Creating the World That We Want. While written before taking a Symposium, the material echoes much of the ideas, concepts and hopes expressed in Awakening the Dreamer, Changing The Dream material and affords an insightful and practical summary of both the issues and the practical steps we can all take to “being the change” we want to see in the world. The book is full of original and impactful illustrations by Phil Turner and will be enthusiastically received by all Symposium participants.
Most importantly, John is making this book available to all facilitators at a discounted price of $10:00 with a recommended sales price of $20.00. He asks that facilitators use the discount to forward the cause of the Pachamama Alliance in the way that they consider most appropriate. For more information, view www.yourplanetneedsyou.org.
Thank you John and Phil for this loving gift to us all!
Most importantly, John is making this book available to all facilitators at a discounted price of $10:00 with a recommended sales price of $20.00. He asks that facilitators use the discount to forward the cause of the Pachamama Alliance in the way that they consider most appropriate. For more information, view www.yourplanetneedsyou.org.
Thank you John and Phil for this loving gift to us all!
Being the Change
This is really exciting! There are so many leaders in the room from various places on the globe. A question has been posed to Bill about adapting the Symposium to address the cultural diversity with regard to many countries, underdeveloped, developing and developed. Bill Twist's morning presentation and the Q/A gives the feeling of how exciting this potential for change is for the entire planet.
It is real! It is happening before our eyes. You can actually sense the beginning of this movement and can see the self organizing taking shape with so many contributing with their collective wisdom! What exciting times we are living through especially when considering the unprecedented capacity we have together to be the change. One of last night's chants was "I am the change." Being here that is deeply felt.
It is real! It is happening before our eyes. You can actually sense the beginning of this movement and can see the self organizing taking shape with so many contributing with their collective wisdom! What exciting times we are living through especially when considering the unprecedented capacity we have together to be the change. One of last night's chants was "I am the change." Being here that is deeply felt.
Ecuador: Creating a Model for the Future
Bill Twist said there is something very interesting going on in Ecuador that is a forecast of what is going in the world. A potential reformation of the constitution based on values is the basis for change. The kind of dialogue that is going on in the country is consistent with the elements of the symposium…creating a system for sustainable and socially just reform.
The country is a blank slate for creating a model for economic abundance led by people in power as a model of what can happen for other countries in the future. In Ecuador, indigenous peoples have become more empowered, leaders of an oil rich country are now looking to leave the oil in the bed of the forest, and there is currently no national currency. It is ripe to create a new model starting with a constitution that addresses getting the corporations involved in the rewriting of the constitution so they are responsible to socially just and sustainable values.
There are 3 initiatives supported by Pachamama in Ecuador:
1) Creating legal rights for the environment.
2) Changing the currency system…exploring alternative models.
3) Limiting legal rights for non natural persons (corporations).
Wow! Amazing! What do you think?
The country is a blank slate for creating a model for economic abundance led by people in power as a model of what can happen for other countries in the future. In Ecuador, indigenous peoples have become more empowered, leaders of an oil rich country are now looking to leave the oil in the bed of the forest, and there is currently no national currency. It is ripe to create a new model starting with a constitution that addresses getting the corporations involved in the rewriting of the constitution so they are responsible to socially just and sustainable values.
There are 3 initiatives supported by Pachamama in Ecuador:
1) Creating legal rights for the environment.
2) Changing the currency system…exploring alternative models.
3) Limiting legal rights for non natural persons (corporations).
Wow! Amazing! What do you think?
Morning Sharing with Bill and Lynne
As one person said in this morning’s sharing last night we were christened with a group ritual by Vinit’s friends, Michael, Celstine, and .... Heather accompanied with crystal bowls. We sang and chanted in rounds of amazing harmony led by Doug Van Koss for an hour and a half. It was an amazing experience of community through sound, movement, singing to each other, and circle dances. So much fun!
Below is some sharing from this morning’s reporting to Lynne and Bill Twist after they arrived. Many shared with them what they got from yesterday's events, reflecting on the potency of Van Jones speech and the imperative to integrate social justice into our work.
Lynne followed with saying that there would be no one better on the planet than Van Jones to initiate the earthquake of waking up. What is happening on the planet now because of the ATD emerging work is extraordinary. So many facilitators in one with such networks exemplify this.
Lynne said she bowed to us for opening ourselves so fully to this next chapter of changing the dream. What a gift to be at the forefront of the ground breakers to open it up. She is moved, excited, real proud of the Symposium, Pachamama, and all of us.
Here are some of the morning comments:
What struck me is what Van Jones said about how frustrated people of color feel. It was very potent for me…by 10:30 AM everyday, most can’t handle the insensitivity to their issues and are on overload, shutting down every single day.
Lynne and Bill, and staff, allowed Van to get to the place to be in the place where he could meet us. They gave him the bridge and he walked through it to meet us so we could walk over it with him. Thank you.
Van Jones blew my circuits. What he talked about was the authentic ability to listen and the importance of all of this work to help us do it.
This was a perfect weekend for us to showcase waking up. Van Jones helped us wake up in his speech and that is what we need to model for youth and everyone.
The thing that is most important for me to say that what I am most uncomfortable about is that I got from Van Jones that we will all have to go through trememdous pain to deal with social justice issues and integrate this with our work.
Van Jones is the first person who has understanding who can start to shine the way forward. I had no idea there was so much pain in America. We need to work with global equity and partnership to transform the wold money and trade situation through equanimity.
Below is some sharing from this morning’s reporting to Lynne and Bill Twist after they arrived. Many shared with them what they got from yesterday's events, reflecting on the potency of Van Jones speech and the imperative to integrate social justice into our work.
Lynne followed with saying that there would be no one better on the planet than Van Jones to initiate the earthquake of waking up. What is happening on the planet now because of the ATD emerging work is extraordinary. So many facilitators in one with such networks exemplify this.
Lynne said she bowed to us for opening ourselves so fully to this next chapter of changing the dream. What a gift to be at the forefront of the ground breakers to open it up. She is moved, excited, real proud of the Symposium, Pachamama, and all of us.
Here are some of the morning comments:
What struck me is what Van Jones said about how frustrated people of color feel. It was very potent for me…by 10:30 AM everyday, most can’t handle the insensitivity to their issues and are on overload, shutting down every single day.
Lynne and Bill, and staff, allowed Van to get to the place to be in the place where he could meet us. They gave him the bridge and he walked through it to meet us so we could walk over it with him. Thank you.
Van Jones blew my circuits. What he talked about was the authentic ability to listen and the importance of all of this work to help us do it.
This was a perfect weekend for us to showcase waking up. Van Jones helped us wake up in his speech and that is what we need to model for youth and everyone.
The thing that is most important for me to say that what I am most uncomfortable about is that I got from Van Jones that we will all have to go through trememdous pain to deal with social justice issues and integrate this with our work.
Van Jones is the first person who has understanding who can start to shine the way forward. I had no idea there was so much pain in America. We need to work with global equity and partnership to transform the wold money and trade situation through equanimity.
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