NEXT PLANNING MEETING (via conference call): February 9 at 2 pm
Preparation for next call - Thinking into who we should invite. In order to do that, we’ll sharing existing list of invitees with the planning group.
Participating: Tree F, Peggy, Sheri, Merrilyn, John, Tree B, Tom, Halim, Susan, Kevin, Michael D, Margo, Bill
Rough Notes: Sheri
Agreements
Tom – post the ES3 synthesis statement to the wiki
Tree F – send out email for upcoming planning meetings to all who expressed interest
Sheri – post meeting notes to wiki
Halim – take the lead for the “invitation team” (Tree F, Halim, Susan, Tom, Margo) to craft an invitation to ES3
John – invite people who were on the waiting list to join the Evolutionary Nexus for dialogue
Brief Summary
Sharing and exploration of what calls you to this conference call.
Discussion of logistics regarding timing of ES3, planning, large number of invitees, venue restrictions (size of group – pros and cons of large v. small)
We do we invite and what topic?
Discussion of the focus/purpose for ES3 – getting clarity
This is a process, not an event.
Synthesis statement for focus/purpose that emerged
Listening into the Future: What is calling? Deep explorations about evolution, visions, where we are and where we might go as a planet.
Bell & silence
Margo – what we created was very powerful and wants to see where we can go and participate in that process.
John – there’s a closer coming together of colleagues in various movements; would like to see an evolutionary salon for software development.
Merrilyn – uses of imagery we could add to the proceedings that will be useful.
Tree F – thinking of herself now as a “money tree”; from the first moment she heard about the first Evolutionary Salon at Peggy’s house, she’s been carrying the field.
Sheri – feel called to this work and to what is emerging; went through powerful transformation at the Salon and want to support the process in support of nurturing the field we are all sitting in.
Susan – when I heard about it, my ears perked up and I had a sense that I needed to be at this gathering; it was extremely powerful; I feel called to support this movement.
Tom – what does the field want to do with the next salon? Sense into it, that’s how he sees his role.
Tree B – ditto; wants to tune in and see where things are and stay connected.
Kevin – has been to the first two salons, both interesting and personally transforming; wants to help form a salon for creatives and artists.
Halim – I was so thrilled and lifted by ES2; wants to see the website evolve; there are surges of energy through me and wants more of that.
Peggy – couldn’t possibly be anywhere else.
Bill – here to play
Michael – this is my passion, these kinds of evolutionary conversations; I may not be on this call every time, but I’m deeply invested in this process.
Logistics:
Who else wants to participate in the planning? Others who want to be involved in this process but could not attend this call – Dana, Katia, Carolyn, Jack, Alan, Ashley, and Alexander.
Conference Call Number – available thanks to Michael; if you want to use the line for ES3 planning, just let him know so he can schedule it.
Meeting Notes - Notes will be posted to the Forum for ES3 on Evolutionary Nexus (Sheri with additional notes from Tom, John and Tree; everyone is responsible for reviewing and making changes/revisions/additions/comments – collaborate and support the ongoing dialogue)
Using the Online Technology:
Forums are the best place for conversations;
Wikis are the best place for collaboration.
Deeper inquiry question:
Peggy – Wants to honor the question of reflection as a foundation for thinking about the purpose for ES3, so let’s take 15 minutes to do some reflections on ES2 as a reflection on ES3.
* * * *
Meeting date/location – Currently set for May 19-24 at Whidbey Institute; there’s still a question about whether we’ll start on the 19th or the 20th.
Need to Focus Quickly – Michael shared that they started inviting people for ES1 8 months ahead of time; same for ES2. This time we’re only 4 months away, so we need to get clarity quickly regarding (1) theme (2) purpose and (3) who to invite
Tom – ES2 successfully brought together people engaged in the work of Collective Intelligence. Who do we want to include in this next Salon?
Request for Reflection:
Sheri – would like to see some time spent on reflection about ES2 to better inform our thinking about theme, purpose, invitations, process. [What did we learn about collective intelligence that is informing our evolving work?]
Clarity of Purpose and the Need to Narrow the Focus:
Halim – question of purpose bifurcates into two:
There are many reasons why people show up – for personal growth, process laboratory, networking, identifying new initiatives, engaging the story field, engaging the design field. We want to welcome the rich variety that people bring, but maybe focusing on several topics/themes would be good.
Tom – There are different types of narrowing: (1) framing focus (2) topic focus (3) wide open; we framed the invitation for ES2 with the evolutionary frame story; we didn’t set the intention solidly at the beginning of the actual gathering (lack of focus). Therefore, people who were drawn by the evolutionary meme felt frustrated, even though it was loose and juicy. We need to try something with the evolutionary framing and have it clear at the beginning and keep it open.
Peggy – she saw the invitation, but didn’t really read it, but was called by the energy. The theme of community building that was implicit in ES2; much of the power happened at that level.
Michael – what is the uniqueness of something like the evolutionary salon, he was asking himself in early conversations leading up to these salons. The need to make explicit the evolutionary context. A real benefit is to create a solid evolutionary context. ES1 – complexity and evolutionary directionality; ES2 – catalyzing Collective Intelligence and social creativity; ES3 – what field or sector would be of great value and interest as this all evolves?
Kevin – several threads here: (1) who do we invite and what topic? (2) what’s the process and form of the salon? It would be very useful to soak people in the evolutionary perspective before the salon actually starts and right at the beginning. A critique – lack of focus and directionality. This time, have focus at the beginning and then in the middle let the river run full and wide, and then run it through a narrow gorge so we have focus.
Tom – “shadow presence” – dozens of people who wanted to be there are on the waiting list. We don’t have a clean slate. What about picking a focus that is broad and can be broken out. If there are specific sectors, then let’s do specific salons on those sectors.
Bill – question is what are the design principles of evolutionary nature that we’re using to make decisions. If you have a lot of diversity, interesting things happen. Convergence/openness. Will the question help us with the convergence? How do we enter into conscious evolution? How do we create a container that might move us to the next phase?
Tree F – she’s holding a lot of space for the people who wanted to come. Could we consider a different facility/venue to hold more people. It’s important to not close it down.
Merrilyn – agrees with this; she supports being open to those who feel they want to be there
Peggy – there is room for more. The assumption is that May won’t be the last ES. We set the intention that as we design ES3 and we have it first come, first serve, if we blow past our numbers limit, we set a date for ES4.
This is a process, not an event.
Halim – Whidbey Institute would limit us to 60 people or so [Note from Sheri - Joy said that Aldermarsh is not available on these dates]
Michael – Whidbey Institute is very turned on by ES2 and would like to see themselves as a space for these types of conversations.
Merrilyn – Can we invite people who were on the waiting list to join the website?
John – he’ll take this on.
Margo – this is a lengthy conversation; the pros and cons of large and small groups. We could have more that are smaller. If part of the design is to have everyone part of the whole. What happens in small vs. larger groups. There were a larger number of women vs. men, explore what that is about. The more balance – diversity.
Michael – likes the diversity. People said that the size wouldn’t have been a challenge if we could have met with smaller groups, so there are pros of less than 40 people.
Merrilyn – Bill’s context of conscious evolution and design principles.
John – he heard a lot about process and it seemed people really loved process, maybe the focus could be on process – evolutionary processes.
Evolutionary Salon 3 – PURPOSE/FOCUS
Bell/Silence
What’s the focus that would make our individual heart sing?
Taking responsibility for what you love.
ES3 Focus that calls you.
Merrilyn – where all of us could be out on one cutting edge, describing it, claiming our potential, being vulnerable, what are we here to do
Tree B – how do we scale up in terms of social evolution, rather than the pace. How can we be strategic about what we really believe needs to happen.
Michael – (missed it sorry)
Peggy – how do we become an enlightened community?
Tom – living as if we can make an evolutionary difference, asking what’s here?
Tree F – continuing to grow the capacity of collective field; take the content and the process and scale it up.
Susan – what are some of our collective images/visions of the future
Margo – listening in to the future, what’s being called
Tom – what is calling
Tree F – that’s what I was trying to say
Merrilyn – they all fit together
Kevin – this resonates; how we move this in a larger community, balance this issue of what is calling and what is this evolutionary perspective, do we have a story? What’s next? There’s a certain urgency and some clarity would be helpful in reaching out to more people.
Margo – speaking more personally, what’s calling to me is not the evolutionary perspective as much as what Joanne Macy calls the “Great Turning”; would like to have some deep listening about the conversation about evolution. It was on the edges of ES2, not in the center.
Kevin – the Great Turning would be a great evolutionary moment.
Sheri – collective visioning
Halim – one of the limitations of the evolutionary frame, is that the sense of emergence happens at the edges…
Tom – weaving several threads: listening to the future, deep conversations about the evolutionary vision, where we are and where we might go; what is calling…
Margo –also that we embody how we treat each other in an evolutionary context; how we are informed comes from the edges.
Susan – don’t want it to sound too monolithic; there are multiple visions possible. what are calling?
John – having a vision of a silent salon – 5 days / no words
Bill – is there a way to hold the question of vision and evolutionary channels and the relationship of the past and the future. There’s a richness around this territory. Just because we envision it and we want it, is it evolution? We vision it, we plan it and now it’s going to happen? Keeps us humble.
Halim – important elements of working toward vision, constantly revising; not left-brained style that is engineered, but taking step by step.
Sheri – would like to see us incorporating the evolutionary processes, including the presence of Scharmer in terms of sensing into the future. [added later for clarification: I am interested in what evolutionary process practices are calling us and what conditions can we set in place to allow us to come into the being state that allows us to connect more deeply with what the future is calling us into....]
Margo – appreciate the sense of history; conscious outreach to people in indigenous communities; presence of many people from indigenous perspectives.
Michael – welcome it and fear it; many indigenous people don’t see the deep time perspective; there are many people who reject the evolutionary story because it doesn’t fit in with their version of creation story.
Synthesis
Peggy – do we have a working theme? Tom named something. Is there support with minor modifications? It seemed we moved on because it was a good working draft theme.
Listening into the Future: What is calling? Deep explorations about evolution, visions, where we are and where we might go as a planet
General support expressed (with some modifications).
Tree F – scaling it up/taking to the next level? Is that theme in there? We’re living into it. What’s calling us is upscaling.
Bill – question based on the last time: what’s the specificity? Would I know more from that title? People will be responding to the call, does it need more specificity?
Tom – when we send out the invitation, there are more questions we include. We want a broad framing to begin with.
Summary of what was expressed by the whole:
Scaling up in terms of social evolution
Growing the capacity of the field
Evolutionary processes as key component
Collective visioning
What are the collective visions/images of the future – what are calling us?
Inviting the indigenous
Different frames - Great turning, listening at the edges, evolutionary
Crafting the Invitation
Peggy – anyone feeling a call to craft the invitation and statement of the theme?
Tree F
Halim
Susan
Tom
Margo
Halim will take the lead to convene the team.
We’ll use the wiki to collaborate on the draft;
We’ll radically trust the invite team to take the lead.
ES3 Conference Call Planning Meetings
We decided to do them every 2 weeks. Those who show up are the ones who make the decisions for that stage of the planning; notes will be posted in the ES3 Planning Forum: http://www.evolutionarynexus.org/node/184
Next Planning Call – February 9 at 2 pm.
We agreed that either Tuesdays at 2 pm or Thursdays at 2 pm are our ideal times (at the moment and taking into account others like Ashley who could not be here but could be available on Thursdays or Fridays). Tree F will send out an email to everyone who has expressed an interest in participating in this unfolding process.
Preparation for next call:
Thinking into who we should invite. In order to do that, we’ll sharing existing list of invitees with the planning group.
Closing
Great process
A lot of appreciation for how mindful everyone was.
Stupendous
Great to see the torch being passed
Would like to have a harvest time.
Notes from Feb. 16 Planning call for Evo Salon 3
Present: Peggy Holman, Tom Atlee, Halim Dunsky, Margo Adair, Tree Fitzpatrick, Susan Cannon, Stephen Feig, Ashley Cooper, Michael Dowd, Sheri Madrone Herndon, Marc Tognotti (and noted that Finn wants to be, is out of town, and will participate when he can)NOTES: EVO SALON 3 PLANNING CALL
FEB 9, 2006: 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
PRESENT ON THE CALL
Margo Adair, Susan Cannon, Ashley Cooper, Stephen Sygzy Feig, Sheri Madrone Herndon, Peggy Holman, Marc Tognotti, Tree Fitzpatrick (Tree came on after the initial check-in)
NOT PRESENT, BUT NOTED AS WANTING TO BE
Tom Atlee, Halim Dunsky, Tim Murphy, Kenoli Oleari, Finn Voldtofte
NOTETAKER’S SUMMARY OVERVIEW OF THE CALL
(Note: Summaries inevitably leave things out and impose some interpretation. Nonetheless, here’s a brief summary paragraph of the call, plus a slightly more detailed summary outline. A complete transcript of the whole conversation follows, for those who want the raw details. – Marc Tognotti)
SUMMARY PARAGRAPH
The group created a practical “to do” list around planning for the next salon. We shifted into a reflection on our learnings from the past salon, most of which seemed to center around unresolved tensions that we are still sitting with. Questions arose as to whether the proposed date and place for the next salon had been imposed without appropriate consideration of what we’re really being called to do and the inherent needs and pace of our growth as a group. We then considered our intention for the next salon--it's purpose. We came to agreement around this purpose: an invitation to invoke and explore the dynamic tensions we are holding as a collective. It was agreed that those who are drafting the invitation would work this theme into a draft and distribute it prior to our next weekly telephone meeting, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 16 at 2 pm. We agreed that the task of the next meeting would be to refine the purpose of the next salon.
SUMMARY OUTLINE
1. Agenda
The group generated an initial list of agenda items:
• The invitation to the next salon (now scheduled for May 19-24 at Whidbey)
• Who to invite
• Roles that need to be filled
• Finances
2. Reflections on our Learnings
We agreed to begin with a reflection on our learnings from/since the salon. A theme quickly developed around “different orientations” and “dynamic tensions” that were present during the salon, for example:
o unresolved relationships to the evolutionary story
o a lack of clarity of purpose (sacred masculine not showing up)
o interventive facilitation vs. holding the space
o ego-presentation vs. going with the emergence
o what people presenced, what they held back
o staying present in the Now vs. the urgency of future action
o people wanting to do Being vs. people who want more Doing
3. Date/Place Restrictions
The question arose whether the proposed date hadn’t been externally imposed such that the process was now being driven by the date rather than what the process needed. Though aware this might have some truth to it, several people were inclined to stick with the date anyhow and no one objected. No decision was made. (A suggestion was made to speed the planning process by spending less time designing and “trust the field,” creating space for conversations to happen as they are wanting to.)
The same question was explored about the place (Whidbey Inst.): Were we trying to fit the process to the place (e.g. the place determines the number of people), rather than finding the place to suit? No decision was made.
4. What do We Really Want? What is our Intention for the Next Salon?
Leaving date and place restrictions aside, what kind of salon would we have if we could have anything we wanted?
We discussed ins and outs of smaller and larger salons, multiple salons. In discussing the ideal size, the feeling seemed to be that the group’s current need is to develop at its own pace, and not to grow too fast, so that later we can more strongly hold the space with greater numbers.
We then shifted to a discussion of purpose. The talk went to dualities of doing and being, the future and the now, willfulness and emergence -- and the question of resolving or welcoming the tensions.
From here, we came to a purpose for the next salon that all seemed to support: What if this were an invitation to invoke and explore the dynamic tensions that we contain as a collective?
5. Practical Matters: Date, Place, Number of People, Structure
We became aware that, once clear on purpose, we'll be ready to tackle the more practical questions such as date, place, number of people and so forth.
6. Closing Assignment: Draft an Invitation and Distribute
It was agreed that the invitation writers would work the newly identified purpose into a new draft invitation, and that they would distribute the new draft before the next call.
7. Next Planning Meeting: Time and Task
The next weekly call is scheduled for the same time next week (Thursday, Feb. 16, 2 pm). Our main task will be to refine the purpose of Salon 3.
The full transcript of the call is posted below.
COMPLETE RAW TRANSCRIPT: FEB. 8 EVO SALON 3 PLANNING CALL
1. BEGINNING MOMENT OF SILENCE
We began with a moment of silence.
2. PROCESS AGREEMENTS
Marc agreed to do notes.
Peggy:
Silent note-takers are invited to send Marc their notes.
Let’s say our names when we speak.
3. CHECK-IN AND EXPECTATIONS FOR THE CALL (AGENDA-SETTING)
Peggy (continued):
Let’s start with a check-in: Please state what you want out of this call. What do you want covered today?
[silence]
Peggy:
Here are some people I know who want to stay engaged but had a conflict for today: Tree Fitzpatrick, Tom Atlee, Halim Dunsky.
Here’s stuff I’m hoping to spend time on today:
- the invitation, a discussion around inviting people and what that looks like,
- the roles we need to make the next salon happen, and where there’s interest in playing some of - those roles
Lastly, I continue to marvel at the level of engagement and interest.
Margo:
I’m marveling also and would like to engage in what’s up.
- I would like to know the financial state of where things are at the moment.
Ashley:
I’m interested in connecting with what is this body of energy that is forming the next salon.
It’s nice to be in real-time, hear voices and hook in.
Marc:
Kenoli Oleari also wanted to be here but had a long-standing medical appointment; he plans to be on the next call.
I’m interested in discussion around questions I’ve seen asked:
- who would be invited to the next salon
- whether there might be fewer people invited
Like Ashley, I wanted to hook into the energy.
Susan:
Have been enjoying watching the energy build. It’s more than I can keep up with.
I’m on the invitation team. We have been working on the draft.
I’m interested in:
- the specifics about framing the financial piece
- figuring out more about the process.
- getting clear quickly on whom we’re going to invite, which we’ll need to do fairly soon, and which will shape what we’ll do at the salon.
Stephen:
In this moment, I’m an open vessel for listening and digesting ideas & offering what comes through me in that process. I feel a lot of excitement & curiousity as to how things will evolve in the course of what becomes revealed to us, and how it gets manifested at the next event. I bring enthusiasm, curiosity, joy.
Sheri:
Right now I’m feeling strong need for 2 aspects of this process to really be here in this call:
- attention to the details thus far identified so we can take next steps
- looking down the road in terms of … the reflection piece … and thinking about what we’re learning from this very process itself: How do we infuse our process with what we’re in the process of learning, so we recognize our role in terms of holding the container in the field?
I’ve been spending lots of time on the nexus site, and talking face to face with others; I’m interested in what people contribute in the present.
4. TODAY'S AGENDA
Peggy:
Here’s what I heard:
• The invitation
• Who to invite
• Roles
• Finances
[Unidentified added:]
• How to incorporate our learnings as we go
Margo:
It might be a good idea to do a round of briefly sharing our learnings first.
I’d be happy to take some time to do that here.
Stephen:
Spending some time in reflection would serve us well.
[Tree enters the call while traveling on the East coast. She apologized for a time glitch.]
Peggy:
So shall we start with How what we’ve learned so far might inform the invitation?
[The Group:]
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
5. REFLECTIONS ON OUR LEARNINGS
Margo:
There are three different “headlines” around learnings for me:
• The idea of the urgency of the state of the planet and my realizing that when things are really urgent, time slows down. I’ve been holding that.
• The whole of shifting one’s attention from individuals in the circle to what’s in the center, the middle as Finn would say. A slight shift but a profound difference.
• Inquiry – this one takes longer to explain – the question of the sense of purpose of why people are there, and the different orientations towards the idea of evolution and how that affected the field; an area I’d like to explore
Peggy:
Two primary things I’ve been sitting with are interrelated.
1. My own personal journey around this has been an increased awareness of sitting in dynamic tension; there were three tensions that showed up during the salon for me:
- sacred masculine and sacred feminine. A lack of clarity around purpose tended to be there; I think this was the sacred masculine not showing up. The role of the sacred masculine is that
- intervention/facilitation and holding space
- spirit and matter - which shows up in relation to money
- among the many perspectives or lack of knowing around the whole evolutionary story
2. The capacity of being present in those tensions and able to be connected to the whole
The clear learning for me: This is what it looks like when the power of invocation isn’t fully realized early on.
Stephen:
Picking up what Peggy said, which catalyzed my reflections.
The last salon reminded me of an evolving young fetus organism growing childlike; we had people who shared common values and had very different life experiences and life stories, and the dynamic between [1] a common unity being called forth intermixed with [2] the stories and ego of the past, and preferences, and how those two danced together. My sense is that by holding space with some gentleness, not tightly, but allowing the guidance of what’s being called through us, will emerge and people will each have opportunities to experience that dynamic in interplay within themselves.
I see myself as one of the many who are holding the gentle guiding space that helps hold a space for this to emerge, realizing there will be tension, conflicts along the way … as the new interfaces with the old … and stuff melts into its new form.
I’m trying not get my references too caught up in how it should be. I would like to see something greater evolve through that.
Peggy:
What Stephen said triggered one last thought. I believe the last morning was a shamanic act of creation … birthing a self-enlightened community. A bodhi sangha.
Tree:
I was one of the people that convened the last day. It seems more powerful to me each day because of the way we did the money. I think there are a lot of exciting, shamanic possibilities that can be represented by the energy of money.
Ashley:
I’m sitting outside [now] … about 30 feet from me a purple-leaved bush in bloom is glowing in the sun. That sense of showing up is really present to me.
Watching individuals show up in fullness, and we as a collective being able to show up.
I feel this sense more now of this essence that’s trying to be burst through the universe.
There aren’t vessels big enough to receive it. It needs a conscious collective in order to receive it. I carry that close in the flow of who we are and becoming.
6. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROPOSED DATE FOR SALON 3
Susan:
To build on what Tree said: sensing that whatever this is that’s coming through that’s emerging is so much more than the capacity of any one or few; it requires a self-enlightened collective …
I’m sitting in the tension of that and holding questions … about how this simple series of salons is unfolding, and the shape of that as a whole rather than thinking of each salon separately …
and I’m having some questions -- The date that we set, is that the time this wants to emerge or are we putting an artificial restriction on it?
Sheri:
I’ve had the same question about the date.
It was also an experience I had here locally with Imagine Cascadia, which had a lot of parallels with the Evo Salon. There’s a lot of similarities.
We had this thing about the date, and it drove us instead of the process driving us.
I resonate with a lot of what people said. The one thing that’s really been alive for me is how (I don’t know if we really named it as clearly as we could) the obvious distinction happening for individuals between Being and Doing.
There are people for whom the work, strategy, focus is in the Being, and others who come towards this work with the Doing.
I saw that so clearly and dramatically in myself, and I know my own evolution around that, so I felt that I could see the whole. If we could have named that more I think it would have helped people in seeing through their differences into what was emerging and how we nurture the field of emergence. I find that a rich inquiry. It’s been brought up a little on the website. I’m wondering how it plays out in terms of what we invite people into and how the next salon unfolds.
Marc:
I’m having trouble keeping up with the notes!
I’m almost surprised by the degree of resonance I feel with what I’m hearing. People are being quite eloquent. Peggy, I like what you said and the way others are following up on it.
To pick up Sheri’s thing of being and doing, and the issue about the date.
The date was thrown out quickly. It surprised me. I did ask myself the question whether it seemed forced.
This brought up for me the dichotomy of Being and Doing. Peggy, you called the last day a “shamanic act of creation.” I felt that, too. But I also heard that some people were feeling [during the ecstatic celebration] darkness and despair, because the action they wanted to see wasn’t occurring. That was not brought out into the circle.
I was then and am still sensing all these wonderful dynamic tensions. I’m looking forward to those tensions emerging and driving the salon to where it wants to go.
I’m feeling in tension with the people who really want to “shape” the salon and who are feeling that action isn’t happening quickly enough. I want to see these tensions and the others the salon is pregnant with come forth. Confrontations, differences, challenges.
Peggy:
Is that everyone?
[No response]
Peggy:
Speaking to the date: if we want to change the date, we can.
The date came from – as we were continuing to marvel at more and more people wanting to attend, reaching 90 and then more than 100 people, and knowing the carrying capacity of Whidbey would be exceeded (even at 80 we tested the sceptic system quite a bit), we (that is, Tom, Terri and Michael) figured, if we can’t expand the number of people, then let’s add another date.
That date was then chosen because that was the date available on the calendar that was both “close enough in” for those who couldn’t come in January, and also “far enough out” to do some planning.
Whidbey is holding the date on the calendar. Whidbey hasn’t asked for money because they are really excited by the work.
We don’t need to be driven by the dates.
My bias: is that it’s indeed possible.
I don’t personally have an attachment if they are in the way.
It can change.
Sheri:
I want to clarify about the date piece … They had kind of driven Imagine Cascadia.
On the flip side … we could do this faster and we could have these conversations faster.
Maybe we could not spend so much time designing, trust the field more, and create space for the conversations as they are wanting to happen.
Ashley:
As I hear the story about the dates I wonder about the initial intention. It sounds like a spillover from the last salon to some extent. In my dreaming mind, I ask, what would happen if the same salon happened with the new learning that evolved from us and the … next one. … ?
Tree:
I think … I want to stay with the dates. It’s definitely doable.
Perhaps we’re shepherding the next event, but there is also the overarching movement, We can do work on both at the same time, and the simple planning of the next event. Then next event is only a piece of the next larger whole. There are 50 or 60 that want to come, who got turned away. We need to grow the field and embrace that energy.
7. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LOCATION OF SALON 3
Marc:
One thing I’m asking is whether we’re possibly not only being driven by the date, but also to some degree by the place and the limits of its size. I realize there is an assumption that we are doing it at Whidbey Institute. Has there been consideration of a larger location, elsewhere?
Having the salon be a moving salon, occurring in different places, could even help even out travel expenses [i.e. between those who are near and those who must come from a distance].
Tree:
We have moved twice. I don’t think we should do it at Whidbey.
Sheri:
I was talking with Joy … and another factor is that Aldermarsh isn’t available that week.
Peggy:
There were only two weekends available in that time frame. The other is Mother’s Day weekend.
We felt we should not go with Mother’s day, so we chose the other.
I don’t think there’s attachment to having it at the Whidbey.
There are pros and cons. It was simple and in front of us to make that choice. None of it is set.
All of it is available and open.
The question I’m asking myself, frankly, is what are the givens, the principles in which we are grounded.
In a way, it’s too early to name them. It’s useful for all to sense into them.
8. WHAT DO WE REALLY WANT? THOUGHTS ABOUT IDEAL NUMBER OF PEOPLE
Stephen:
I sense part of the conversation we were just having had to do with those who couldn’t come to the salon because of restrictions. And we’re trying to compensate for that.
I want to ask: If we could do anything, what would we do?
Would we have a hundred people, 200, 500, 1000?
My sense is we would come to some sort of common unity around a maximum number that would feel right.
I’d pose to the group, What feels right in terms of number of people?
And then I would ask, Where would we hold this?
In other words, let’s first envision what we want to create, and then ask the logistical questions.
Tree [jumping in]:
One of the pieces I’ve been holding deeply, and I’m sheepish, I’m holding the money.
I want to say 200 people. But I also think that to build something strong and lasting …. children’s bones don’t build overnight, they build in layers … one part of the body grows, then others catch up.
I think we could build an amazing economic structure that could allow us to do all that we want to do with money. I want to go fast, but think we need a couple more not 200 ones [i.e. a couple more smaller than 200] before we can take the money into the leap.
Margo:
I think we have the energy that most anything we create, or let emerge, is going to be good.
It feels good to be able to say that.
I also think it may be good to explore the other side. When I heard that Salon 2 had gotten as big as it had, my immediate reaction wasn’t positive. Larger isn’t necessarily better. It’s a value we have in this culture.
I wonder what a smaller salon, or more salons would look like.
Different kinds of things can happen with different numbers.
Ashley:
I’m holding Stephen’s question, what would we do if we could do anything at all?
What really rose in my vision: In May at Whidbey, tuning the field for a larger collective and continuing to hold space as we continue to grow.
Having the “we” as a body itself continue to grow, so we can then really hold space with growing numbers.
Peggy:
I love your image Ashley. There’s room for all sorts of salons of all sizes. It’s part of the beauty of it, as we learn what we’re doing. And taking more baby steps, so we can learn what’s the underlying pattern – whether we have 5 in a living room or an event of 1,000 – what are the underpinnings?
I have a bias for May because think it would be a wonderful place to continue to sense in and answer what are some of the patterns that can inform many different sizes and places.
The question we landed on is a statement of purpose, so we have that in our presence.
We are listening into the future: What is calling? Deep explorations about evolution, visions, where we are and where we might want to go as a planet.
Is that still the purpose we feel for the next salon?
We do need to be grounded in purpose.
9. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE, INTENT OR CALLING FOR THE NEXT SALON?
Sheri:
To answer Peggy’s question and Stephen’s. That purpose still rings very deeply for me, and I’m feeling it not just here & from the web, but in a lot of places. It’s a sign we’re on a kind of evolutionary pulse. I resonate with that strongly.
Some clarification, some questions articulated in the invitation were real good.
The second piece, imagining ourselves going more deeply, building the foundation, growing the body more slowly – so it can take off at an accelerated pace.
I would love to see us go deeper than we did, at the next salon.
And giving ourselves, trusting ourselves, being bold and feeling ourselves being experimental, as Tree said, too. I love that. With this we are also creating new economic models that can sustain our vision going into the future. Not just sustain this salon. It’s big. I get that when you say that.
Stephen:
Peggy when you talked about visioning the future, an image came to me. Some may know this, it’s in perceptual psychology, there are hundreds of billions of info that come to us at any single second; our perception of those is like a pinpoint on a vast tapestry. That says to me that what’s being called for comes to us as we attune, not necessarily with silence, but attune with attention. We can’t do everything at this next salon, and if we hold certain spaces anything can come through. My sense is that part of our sacred responsibility is to say yes to certain things, and no to others. In saying that no, we give more space to what we choose.
With limited facilities, and limited numbers of people, the focus of what’s calling through us, attuned to intention, e.g., what are we about, how we can go deeper, attuning for future possibilities? It’s a deeper question. What is the essence? How will that serve the greater picture? I want to ask, what is the intention of what we want to create? What’s the essence we want to create the container for?
Peggy:
That’s a very profound question. I’d like to suggest a minute in silence for each of us to ask ourselves. What is the essence? What’s being called through us for this next gathering?
See what surfaces?
Margo:
What came to me was that in some ways when we’re listening in, the doing and the being become the same thing. The act of listening at this time is very deep, and something we’re all …
the task of listening itself is something we’re living into. The practice increases our ability to do what’s being called for.
Ashley:
Recognizing the patterns for sustaining emergence in the listening, the doing arising from being.
Stephen:
In terms of the being and doing, I’m reminded of the wave and the particle in physics. Sometimes it’s time to be a particle, sometimes a wave. If you’re a particle and need to a wave, there’s some discord there. There’s time for doing and time for being. Because we’re doing doesn’t mean we’re not being.
What I got was, I was feeling the planet, and the collective consciousness of humanity calling through. And feeling so many things going on, asking who are we and which of these do we embrace as our own?
The image that came to me was something simplistic, as what are the 5 or 6 areas that we as a group, as a salon organization – I’m using old language terms trying to say something new, I am holding a bigger image -- what are the new things we are holding a space for specifically? Things like consciousness, environmental, media – all the new things that came through the last salon.
My sense is, to come to clarity on these, these are the areas that are most alive or focused on, would be essential for creating an ability to pose future questions. We could go back to what we chose to focus on. Not to say that many things aren’t important; it’s just that we can get scattered if we listen to every bit of info that needs to be heard in the planning team. Checking in on a regular basis to adjust. My sense is the call for action requires for focus. … My sense is that in some ways becomes institutionalized, if we would have trust that the being would come, the doing would come. Give us focus, who we are and what we’re here doing together so people can choose yes. It’s not where I’m in alignment. That will synchronize or move this growing organism.
Marc:
I think that we can make an assertion (which I’m inclined to make and inclined to believe) that being is doing and vice versa, or we can assert that if others only “have trust” that, even if we don’t seem to be acting enough, that eventually we’ll get there. Both of those approaches are ways of trying to assert oneness, while in fact there may be a tension, or twoness. I don’t know that we need to assert solutions [e.g. that the “being or doing” tension resolves, or “if we trust, it will come”], I’m interested in instead exploring the tensions with which the group is pregnant. There is energy there, and promise. What I came up with, during the silence, as what I’d most like our intention to be, is to evolve ourselves as a group, to evolve the group that was there at the salon in seeking out our own interior edges, where they come against each other, to discover our tensions and go through them as a group and in that way achieve greater levels of mutual understanding, identity, and articulation – that’s the kind of intention that came up for me.
Margo:
I appreciate what you said, Marc. For me listening in isn’t necessarily coming to unity. Hearing the different perspectives is really important, so I appreciate what you said.
Tree:
Not sure if this fits. I want to say that I’m looking forward to living in a world where being is doing, and the inner work of doing an event like this is seen as real and tangible.
Marc:
Where my tendency is to be a sort of Being guy. I wanted to hold a space for Being before those people who were intent on Doing, who seemed frustrated that there wasn’t more doing. Those two perspectives create energy, the tension we need to move the conversation forward.
Ashley:
Yes. I also hear you saying that you want to invite out more of those voices so that tension is more clearly present. You want to invite out those tensions.
On that note, looking at the language of the invitation, a tension that newly arises for me when I hear that purpose, the future orientedness of it and doing for the future.
What is calling feels very now and present-centered for me.
What is calling is now future, but I also feel a need for listening for right now.
Not just what we’re wanting to emerge but what is emerging, to hold the tension for these.
Tree:
Question: just out of curiousity, is there anyone on this phonecall who is frustrated by the level of not enough doing?
[Unidentified]:
Right now or at the event?
Tree:
At the event. Anyone here who felt that way?
Stephen:
Me, I felt no attachment either way. On the call, I was appreciating what was going on.
I’m also recognizing there were questions of when the event should take place, and of the concrete answers that were being sought. Recognizing that it’s 3:15, I wonder when we are going to try and have those answers.
Tree:
I was in the Being camp at the Salon. I’m in the Being camp now.
The people who were frustrated with the (not) Doing are not on this call.
It’s ok they’re not. I just think it should be noted.
Peggy:
To pull it into a duality makes me cringe, and putting it into camps.
There is a tension.
I do sense what you’re naming tree. We haven’t heard from everyone.
Susan, I want to call you out specifically, because your name keeps popping up in my head.
And the energy of the call has a very Being quality to it.
Susan:
At the event I was definitely in the Being camp.
I’m sensing the tension that was there. I think it would be unavoidable for a group of that size and diversity, that that would be part of its texture.
I don’t think I’ve shifted from that.
The other thing that’s sitting with me. As we just did this little piece and I’m thinking about the purpose as we stated it, and now I’m hearing it differently. What’s trying to emerge now is more of a state of presence rather than the future; less of creating something out there and more of a question of what this collective is, what dynamism is there, what will emerge?
I don’t know … I’m getting more of a sense now, less of a focus on the future than on this emerging collective, more of becoming aware of that awareness and maybe tuning that a bit and reflecting and working with that, rather than creating something in the future.
At this point early on, is it time to focus on that? I don’t have a feel for it.
Peggy:
What surfaces for me, and it’s a combo of what you were just saying and what Marc was saying,
I perk up at the idea of invoking the dynamic tensions in this, the look at the future vs. what’s emerging now.
If this is an invitation to explore dynamic tensions, an aspect of that is becoming aware of the collective, and the being and doing exist in the nature of that as a focus. The question itself is a dynamic tension; it contains an invitation to both being and doing within it.
As a focus and an intention for the next salon, I like it because it calls me to content (around dynamic tension) as well as the experience of being in the collective with our dynamic tension.
It holds fertile ground for being and doing around our differences and being connected.
Ashley:
I also makes visible what often remains invisible.
10. GIVEN THIS PURPOSE – AN INVOCATION OF DYNAMIC TENSIONS – WHAT SERVES US IN TERMS OF STRUCTURE, NUMBERS OF PEOPLE, AND DATES?
Stephen:
What are the principles by which we do this? What serves this in terms of structure, numbers of people, dates? Once one thing comes through, like your question, Peggy, then other things can be seen in alignment.
Marc:
That sounds like a question for a next meeting not this one. A great question.
Ashley & others:
Yes.
Peggy:
Once we have a grounded purpose, we have a ground from which to ask the kind of questions you are asking Stephen.
Would the invitation writers be willing to craft all this into the invitation you are working on?
11. ASSIGNMENT: THE INVITATION WRITERS WILL WORK THIS PURPOSE INTO THE INVITATION DRAFT AND DISTRIBUTE
Tree:
We needed all this info to complete a draft of the invitation.
There’s eight minutes left for this call. When are we going to meet again?
People said Thursday afternoons work, but not this Thursday [i.e. today?].
Thursday afternoon works for lots of people.
Finn said he might like to dial in, but for him it’s the middle of night in Europe.
12. NEXT PLANNING MEETING: WEEKLY, THURS. AT 2PM
Peggy:
Shall we stay with this time? And if Finn wants to join us still, we can sense into that and see how to work it out.
Tree:
I’ll write Finn a note.
I will send an announcement to the 20 or so interested folks.
Let’s keep with a weekly meeting.
13. POSTING THE NOTES ONLINE
Marc:
[responding to a request.] I will post the notes online, assuming I can figure out how.
Sheri:
I can help with that.
14. REFLECTION ON TODAY'S CALL PROCESS
Peggy:
I invite a reflection on how we’re working together on the call – about our process.
I’ll start: There’s a question for me … I gravitate to asking focusing types of question. I heard Tree and Stephen doing that too. And other people. I’m happy to play this role, and I have no attachment to playing it.
Tree:
I’d be delighted to do it. [Then again,] Peggy is a great master.
Marc:
Yeah.
Ashley:
I’ve appreciated the fluidity [solidity?] of the questions arising from different people.
Stephen:
A couple of levels on the call. There’s the content, and the notes. There’s also, a greater awareness of what we’re learning, what are the principles. Other than what’s been said, I’d like ask the group, other than about the content, what are we learning here through this call that holds the principles by which we can learn, and that we can pass on to others?
What is it that we are learning through our interactions that we can pass on to others and …
[Unidentified]: … that we won’t have to learn the next time… ?
Stephen (continued): … um … What is it about our group dynamics, about how we answer questions, about conflicting voices, what is the overall higher organizing principle that, if we can recognize and embrace it, will help guide us through these questions. ?
Margo:
I feel what’s going on, for myself, there’s a listening-in to where there’s resonance and an
awareness of the whole that brings in the edges, and brings in the dynamic tensions which are … the whole. Without the tensions there would be no substance, it feels like. I appreciate the dance we’re engaged in.
Sheri:
What Margo just brought up, brought forth something that’s been sitting with me in terms of our group dynamics and what we’re learning. And the last theme of the salon was collective intelligence and social creativity. But, as someone very interested in collective intelligence and wisdom, What are those practices and how are we holding that piece? I would love to have us explore that as a topic, a theme. Somehow it’s a little elusive, and I’ve been curious about that.
Ashley:
Something I’m learning that I noticed on this call, noticing what are the arisings as opposed to what I already know -- and speaking from that place of arising, instead of that place that already knows, and wants to say something.
Sheri:
I’m wondering … that seems so important … how do you quiet that part of you, or is it quieting … or what is that for you?
Ashley:
That’s a deep question. I’d want more time to answer. But just recognizing when I have something to say, that is good to say …. and resting in the silence [presence?], if I can get to a place where it goes away or it comes back up, finding a centered place within myself of silence and stillness.
Marc:
That reminds me of a discipline it seems we were practicing, when we were in the big circle, waiting together for someone in the circle to realize they had something to say. Knowing when one had something important enough that it was time to speak, or else remain silent.
Ashley:
And I also felt a lot of tension … with the rapid-fire of expertise.
Peggy:
I want to do a time check. And I also have a desire to respond.
Can we take two or three minutes to bring this to closure?
All:
Yes.
Peggy:
When Ashley was speaking, I’m appreciating these two profound principles that Margo has named and Ashley has named: The principle of noticing what’s arising as opposed to what I already know. When I speak what I know, I speak from ego. When speaking from emergence, I speak from the center.
Stephen:
I remember from the salon the principle “embrace our discomforts.”
(silence)
15. NEXT WEEK’S PLANNING MEETING TASK: REFINING THE PURPOSE STATEMENT
Stephen (continued):Participants: Sheri, Peggy, Tom Atlee, Tree F., Ashley
Update as of March 23rd: 22 registered participants.
We used this time to do powerful reflection on dissonance and explored the possibility for online space for collective reflection.
Some notes:
Dissonance/disturbance -- What is energetically effecting the field? How are we energetically creating, feeding, nourishing the field? What does that mean? Naming the tension in the field.
Holding the field in loving and compassionate ways. Looking at how we are bign and treating each other. Going through the hard shit and coming out in a way that makes us more whole.
The opportunity that online spaces provide to make interactions available to be seen as objective as opposed to only subjective. Allowing the greater community to watch us digest. Ways of being transparent. Allowing meta interactions to be more visable for our learning and evolution.
"We get to learn about each other now."
Evolution of our relationship to technology.
Allowing our divided selves to show up... recognizing division between individual responses and on-behalf-of-the-whole resposnes..
Embracing dynamic tension -- Our capacity to hold radically different world views. We don't have to resolve them, we have to embrace.
Honoring sacred messengers.
We all feel attacked differently. What does attacking feel like for you? When we feel attacked, what is our response? Can we come up with agreements for how we recover?
Notes from Lion Kimbro at Experimental Wiki
There was a conference call today!
2:00PM, 1.5 hours
note-taker: LionKimbro
Notes for the next call:
(Tree, this is your space, to put your introductory paragraph!)
(Right here! Erase this, and put your intro paragraphs here. :) )
(Something about deeply immersing ourselves in the larger field, next call, right?)
Ritual Question: "What calls you to this work?"
What are people interested intalking about?
So the table is:
Side points:
Tree:
Tree on scholarship money:
Steven: "Let's leave some aside, for last minute registering, at least 2 people."
Next, the roster:
Steven: Ask them for a paragraph, and contact info, if we want to talk with them.
Ashley: Invite them to post to the evo nexus!
(Mark seconds that.)
Tree: Okay, what about more generally?
Ashley: Direct them to the evolutionary nexus website.
"Is it happening? What's the response?"
People liked Ashley's intro paragraph. She invited 5 or 6 people, and 2 signed up immediately.
Sheri asks about how the invitation process works, who is invited.
Tree and Peggy tell that there was a lot of consideration about it last Tuesday, 5 PM. The result is: If you feel deeply passionate about this, if this is your life's work, you should be invited. But, it goes one degree: The person you invite shouldn't be performing inviting.
(Lion, transcription note: I may have screwed this report up; If you are Tree or Peggy, please correct this.)
There's a desire to expand the base: Youth (the "UnderThirty?'s,") and people of different races. We're mostly whitey's, and we don't like that.
We're concerned about what to do when we're full. What should we tell people? Do we have an answer for them?
And what about the WhidbeyInstitute?? Have we talked with them? What is our connection with them, and what do they think?
Bill and someone else bring up something about the online dimension of things, community building, and the energy behind these issues.
Margo says something about a conversation with Tom & Peggy, about "What is the Evolutionary Salo?" A concern about "privatism" leading the discussion, rather than clarity & intent.
Bill wants anyone to feel invited to start a branch. (lion: not sure I recorded this right.)
Someone brings up the FourPrinciplesOfTheEvolutionarySalon. Next Thursday's call, he or she would like larger mindfulness to larger questions to be the focus.
Tree notes that she emails you if she needs help, and that she needs you to respond.
Someone mentions that she has a female NonViolentCommunication? Japanese friend, who wants to come. And Sheri knows a visionary artist who has a similar energy like Dana, who she'd like to invite.
Bill sent an invite. Steven sent 10, hasn't heard back yet.
Peggy notes that we have 20 registrations already, and we're only just starting.
Tree notes that many people seem ready for just this sort of thing. She ran into people by accident, (UnderThirty?s,) who seemed perfect.
Lion notes that ImagineCascadia? is there too, also in Seattle.
Ashley opens up, noting we need a real awareness of how we're doing, how we intend to replicate it, and how our online presence fits into the whole thing. We need sensing into the larger picture, patterns, … Logistics can be arranged online, there's a responsiveness to it.
She's talked with Ria & George, about what the Nexus is, how to support it. The online space is a big place. Will planning teams make use of the wiki? Is it time for this? We want to find something that meets our needs.
Sheri brings some clarity to the questions. Is it (1) that we aren't engaged enough with the online space, or (2) that the space isn't meeting our needs?
Tree asks where the wiki is. LionKimbro says he'll post the session notes for 2006-03-16 to the wiki, and a link to it on the EvolutionaryNexus website.
Peggy asks about Basecamp and Backpack. Has anyone here used it? Would it be of service to people?
Backpack is the free version, it's normally $99/month to support 1,000 subscribers. Tree has great things to say about it. It's "Open Space software." Anyone can start a project in it.
Ashley suggests sensing into larger patterns, gaining value from the online experience.
Peggy, once a software engineer, says that, abstractly, she'd get a lot of value from the online world. But practically, she hasn't seen anything yet that helps, beyond just simple listserves. She's seen some good discussion software, but the search functionality was horrible. She's also had bad experience with wiki, dealing with wiki syntax.
Tree remembered a conversation she had with NancyWhite?, where Nancy (an expert) noted that: "software just isn't out there yet" for a lot of the things people want to do.
Sheri talked about 5 days at her SacredCircleRetreat?. They felt that the online component is a key piece. So, what they did, is hold a session where 5 people just learned to use a wiki, and got comfortable with it. She said it's important that we learn together in a virtual world. Engage with it, and be willing to experiment with it.
Sheri suggested training sessions at the Salons, for how to do it.
Bill said he needs to feel a need, and sense a purpose, before getting into it. He said he's not interested in paragraph-long, or multi-paragraph-long meditations. Discussion about the tools doesn't make sense, without a sense of purpose behind it.
Tree has been hoping for a session about this. (lion: I think I'm getting something wrong here.) Something about a thing called "SpiritedWork?," and someone named Gabriel hosting an orientation session.
Someone asks: "Are we willing to go there? To use the wiki? To do EvolutionarySalon3Planning? online?
Tree says she wants to experiment, play, and give it her best shot.
Marcus thinks we may be more interested in the tool, than identifying a need.
Sheri feels the need very strongly. She talks about creating and replicating the dialog in a way that's very different.
Bill notes that one major value, is that people feel an aliveness, more than "it was just an event."
Sheri notes that we're generating a lot of energy, and we can inspire greater engagement.
Marcus is still skeptical.
(Sheri & Margo need to sign off.)
"What is the purpose, and imagined use?"
Ashley is commited to holding the space.
Bill will play in terms of purpose. Bill suggests making space for coming participants to participate in the design process.
Ashley suggests inviting people to the online space, as part of the general invitation. Tree concurs.
(lion: I was very confused by this section, so these notes are plausibly way off.)
MichaelDowd? has a design session on Friday. Something about focusing on the evolutionary story aspects of the larger picture. There's some confusion ("dissonance") about the relationship between the story and the salon, and Michael's thoughts about it.
Susan says that the intent is to make the salon coherent within an evolutionary context, replicable. At the beginning of the salon, there should be something about evolution. It doesn't necessarily need to be TheGreatStory?; it can be another evolutionary story.
(Stephen needs to sign off.)
Then there's something Tree says about an email from Michael, or Ashley.
Ashley says something about inviting everyone who comes to find their own sense of their evolutionary context, and encouraging people to exchange their ideas about their evolutionary context, whatever they may be.
Tree notes it's not necessarily TheGreatStory?; Just rolling things forward.
Then there's a question from Marcus, Tree responds; It has something to do with people who have passion for a subject deciding to work in a subgroup they feel called to.
Peggy notes a deepening in our capacity to work together.
Tree feels overwhelming gratitude for the call. She was worried that things that need to be paid attention to, wouldn't be paid attention to. But they were! A sigh of relief.
Ashley feels like a huge deep breath, a nurturing breath, before the next session.
Tom thanks Peggy & everyone who held the space.
Lion says he had a blast, and asks for Tree, Ashley, and Susan's phone numbers.
Tree says, "We hope you get sick more often!" (Lion's here because he was sick today, and stayed home.)
Marcus says, "Thanks all! See you later!"
I know, I know, "Lion, you got it all wrong!"
Or, "Lion, you should have written it differently!"
Well, here's your moment of glory!
Just hit "edit this page," at the bottom, and you can fix it yourself. :)
I've given an answer to Bill's question: "What is the purpose of communicating online?" … on the page: OnlineInteraction.