After-Salon Harvest

This community meeting is to listen into the middle, what is not in me, not in you, not in us, but in between us. Listen to what emerges from that middle. Listening into it. Speaking from the middle. Giving voice to the middle. Make all of us prepared to be of service and give voice to the middle. That’s the intention.

As a preparation, we have a few steps to go through. Two periods of silence and reflection. Then we enter into our community of speaking, listening and giving voice to the middle. The first step is to have a period of silence. We’ll repeat the practice, if you will so. Use the silence to center ourselves, connect with the center of ourselves, then direct our attention to the middle. Fin will ring us in, Margo will ring us out.

The invitation, is to sit with two others and continue to listen in to the middle of the whole. In the presence of 2 others, you may find yourself wanting to give voice what you are sensing in the middle, be with each other and sense, whatever ways you are moved to listen in. This is an experiment because listening often takes silence. In the next while we’ll go in and out of silence. Take a few moments. Understanding the acoustics in this room be really quiet with each other so we can fully hear the people we are with. Speak in a whisper so we can all have voice and still hold what we’re hearing. We’ll do this for 5 minutes. Don’t feel obliged to speak. The intention to be listening into the middle, listening for what is emergent and give voice to that. Then we’ll ring back into silence. Move our chairs for a moment, ring the bell and move ourselves back into the circle for a second silence, then we’ll come back and give voice as a whole. So 2 people. And whisper if you have things you want to say.

Break – back. We will continue into a few minutes of silence.

We can use the technological form of a talking stick… a microphone. What we’d like to invite you to do, if you are moved to give voice to what you are are hearing in the middle, you pick this up. When you are done speaking, recognize the next person and give them the microphone. We chant to keep this speaking to a rhythm that we can deepen and listen. At any point, if anyone needs to have the bells rung, or Fin or myself may ring them. One of the things about using a microphone, you can be really quiet with our voice. Sometimes when we are quiet with our voice we can speak from a different place.

•    I feel called to speak first. If you notice, I spoke first on Sat. night, that was the first time I spoke first. This is my personal growing edge to be more bold. What I have to offer is a metaphor, a gift that came to me yesterday in the bathroom. They have a nature conservancy mag, impact on global warning on the people of the north. A frame. They have this beautiful picture of a blanket toss, their  version of trampoline. The community around the blanket, one person in the middle. A celebration. It was invented as a way to see further so one person could see beyond the curve of the horizon to the benefit of the community. A pretty beautiful idea. We’re all in the circle and one is flung into the air for a fleeting, unsteady view, a hint of what is out there. Benefit to the person in the air, benefit to the community and we all take our turns.
•    I justed wanted to express appreciation for the distinctions that have been emerging. The difference between, it has to do when we are coming together. One way is to have attention on our own deepest self or intuition, or on each other in that deep way, collectively. Then there is this other thing, attending to action in the middle. Just trying to do here. I think the distinction between attending to the middle and to the collective was not clear. When our attention is off of our selves and each other and on something we are trying to tune into together, that thing becomes magnified, more important than any of us. In unifying everyone in one thing, in a kind of excitement, anticipation, turning into receptivity, bigger than any of us, has a life beyond us that requires us to sustain it, to grow. Inherently bigger than anyone. Just wanted to share that.
•    Kind of an offs[ring of the lets session about what are we not speaking about. Offering, here is a basket. I invite anyone to place there expectations. What did you come here with, what did you expect will happen. Write it and then let them go in the basket.
•    My own body, I feel a call to move in so much in meetings and talks and mental concentration, that ooh, I want to move. I want to move, to breathe, relax, dance, whoo! Yeah! Tchitat tchittoom. Whoo! Ah!So! So why not just give us permission not just seated, but for those who feel it stand up and move, or dance, take your neigbor. Is there a law that forces us to stay screwed on our chair.
•    I found myself offering massages to people. The knots or tensions and anxieties. As group there could be a similar gathering of energy. Need to work that out. Find that care for each other. TO reach out. To ask for it. If you need some help, I’d love to be a part of that.
•    I was noticing the strong sense in the middle of belief. So when Fin asked us to consider what weaves between us, a lot of belief came to me.
•    Something that came up to me earlier was two words while we were meditating. Conflict and safety. Maybe a process thing, but maybe a larger evolutionary thing. Speak from an I perspective. Huge thing for me in dealing with conflict. Conflicted world. Working with the idea that conflict is evolutionary, part of the process. There is an avoidance. When I avoid confect I end up depressing. Something within our group, we talked about the forming of claques. Was that healthy or not. Wetter or not there are things that won’t come together as a result of conflict avoidance. I put that inquiry into the circlet.
•    Reminded me of a session that I was in this mronign with Joseph and others about how to involve the war makers. IT was a really good session. Something that came out of it that stayed with me was a recollection back to the Cold War. Citizen diplomacy where Americans went to Russia at a time, hung out as family, people, drank vodka, broke down at some level that huge divide, part real, part created. In a sense we are in a cold war situation in our own country, almost civil war, with a divide somewhat artificially created. Maybe we need a citizen diplomacy project and go across the artificial boundaries and know people as people and families. Let go go our own kind of condition, knee jerk reactions and begin to put them aside. Ashley was calling for in terms of putting aside our expectations, knee jerk reactions to the other. Worth bringing to the whole circle.
•    I have a special attraction to people who seem to share my interest, way of thinking, talking, then I have a kind of special kind of if feeling about those I’ve met, formed a bit of relationship. Also aware of another kind of attraction. People that I haven’t talked to yet. Look at them. IT would be nice to construct the process, World Café may bit it, to meet those people.
•    My voice was trying to talk softly. I think I heard John speak. Not sure. I was it’s not that too many men have spoken, but I felt the middle wanting women’s voice. I didn’t know ow that would happen. I don’t know within the women part of who we all are if there is nothing coming up. Or if there si something coming with something in front of it or on top of it.
•    Hello. I’ll not start by addressing that. I was looking around to see where the talking stick was, then I heard this comment, then this conversation. This is interesting. The though that was coming up was a follow up to the last 2-3 comments which I was in that session. Thought it was an excellent session. There was a conversation I’d gotten into about is action different than conversation. What makes me feel like I need to do action and what is that different. In the am session got excited. That to me is action. We were talking about this kind of conversation where the conversation stepped out side of bounds, out of who there, going into a new space. One of the things we end up, the original topic was how do we bring in the war mongers. The others. We’re coming up with different strategies. It comes down to meeting with them. Have a conversation. I almost wish he’d share, I won’t tell the story. About being in a place where somewhat separated from hour own environment and support system, be in that space with who you saw as the other, they are no longer the other. Human. AN important lesson. Also the word humility. How I get nervous when I feel the stuff starts to separate from humility. Getting a little too close … just talking about humility. There was another place I wanted to go. See if I can find it. Before I let go of the mike I Want to address the issue of that keeps on coming up about where are the women’s voices. And some conversations this morning. There’s different pieces to it. There is a value to opening the space up for silence. For a kind of pause where voices can emerge. And the ability for the voices who are more likely to speak, to have set or strong opinions to take that step back is highly valuable. A good learning thing for everyone. The putting it as the male/female and putting lots of energy into “lets get the women voices’ to me, this is a generation thing, which may or may not exist, making those distinctions so strong. It’s back to a conversation we had about diversity. Not lets have the token black, old person. That’s not real diversity. It involves a microcosm, or be present with whom is there. Appreciation for the whole of each individual, not just their token representation. The women are here, the voices will come out, …
•    I’d like to suggest that those voices are there through different intelligences. Those of us  practicing those invite those who are not choosing to listen at a deeper level and we might have a dialog.
•    The last 4-5 minutes, listening to talk, watching Jennifer take the microphone. My heart is pounding. So much potential in this room right now. I don’t know what is is, or what can emerge, but I feel like sitting on the edge of my feet. Visualizing everyone around you supporting you If we all listen to the deepest point of what people are trying to say, not just the words, what is trying to come through us, our deepest aspiration as human beings. What could emerge is incredible. All these little light beams, focused like a laser. Something about that heart pounding, edge of seat, what is trying to emerge as to do with listenging and paying attention to each other deeply.
•    How do we honor each other as hole beings at scale.
•    I had this observation yesterday. This being a microcosm of what is out in the larger world. Women’s voices are there out in the a larger world Our voices are here in this space. We all carry the masculine and feminine within us. I’ve heard men speaking from their feminine side. And women speaking from the masculine place. So it’s here. It’s about honoring the flow between masculine and feminine.
•    I’m making an observation that it seems to be true that if we are carefully listening to their middle. Having the intention of giving voice to the middle, something that… second experience today. Where are the women and they came. And want to go. And yesterday I had the experience, do we want to connect this conversation to what’s connected with the evolutionary… the nit was connected. Just call it and you get it. When we are in this listening together into one.
•    I want to honor the needs and request of the men who have asked for the women’s voices. I want to invite us, since this is a new experiment listening to the middle, I’d like to invite us to pay closer attention, to discern whether we are actually hearing from the middle, or we are projecting our own self and needs and calling it as the middle speaking. Invite us with humility to call on that quality of attention. Easy to call it the middle when it is us. That would be diminishing taking away the sacredness. For myself I find it offensive. I feel the women in this room are really strong. I don’t feel any of them are holding back, or fearful We are not going to hold back. Our presences are here. I wanted to honor that the men may have the need to hear our voices, but I don’t feel the women are feeling held back. Or not invited. That’s speaking from my own sensing.
•    Where are the men?
•    If there is more listening to the feminine than the voice of the feminine can be heard. I learned yesterday evening from Ann Dosher, that the feminine needs to be listened into speech.  
•    First I wanted to ask you Tom if you were complete before or said what you wanted to say. Big jump in the interaction. Having a space of respect for whomever was speaking. As a woman, one of the reasons I’ve been quiet, I feel like what I’m longing for is more of a certain kind of masculine. There is a lot of feminine in the space, the process and dynamics. Missing some form of structure around the overt context of what we are here to talk about. Some kind of framework that supports us to be in the same conversation even though we are coming at it from different places. More of a sense of what we mean by evolution. I wanted to speak that beyond the man and woman, the issue of masculine and feminine. I want to say that its more about creating spaces of silence and stillness. Some of us feel more drawn to be listening or witnessing which is an active form of intervention.
•    The space that I feel that we’re asking for in the center, I’ve wanted to bring some attention to what you’re saying Tessa in terms of space, intentionality of this gathering. Today was an amazing day, ideas flowing, offer this as an idea. I was speaking about the idea in certain contexts, be clear about that, some folks see evolution as being competition. That it is a one way thinking in relationship to cooperation in that the higher order construct is actually meta evolution. What we are describing is the evolution of evolution. OK?
•    Image of a water fall. For me a waterfall is where water throbs itself into the abyss. Into the space and touches the other part. He covers all spaces without fear, without letting anything untouched. IN doing so he doesn’t loose his natural essence. That was my image.
•    I’m sorry to say that I’m tired. Tired of hearing impersonal things. General consideration of what is the center, what is masculine. That what is is outside of me. I’m tired about that. I want to talk about me. My vulnerabilities, the things I don’t know how to do. TO be better. I’m interested in hearing stories like that. Tears of joys, laugher, Personal things that put us in real danger. Here it is comfortable, safe. I’m tired for that. Thank you.
•    I’ll answer the call. I have a project. I’m going to open up and be vulnerable because maybe it will help. I’ve been thinking about for my whole life. Comes out of me, comes out of me as a little kid. Where am I? What is this? I’ve had this for the last 20 years. It’s what inspired my book the Home Planet. By the time it came out I was well beyond it. We talk at the pre-meeting about trying to show up at your cutting edge, full power. I’m trying it. I have this project that I think, that whole part that sounds egotistical, that it could be a critical element of change. I had the for 20 years and I can’t get it going. I had a lot of money. In 1999 I made 1.4 million dollars on some stock that I had. Big part of it went into taxes. I had 800K left. I used it for a lot of stuff, I lived on it and I had my project. I told myself when I… I et up to an edge and ai can’t get myself into it. That money is gone or not accessible. My ability to do this financially, time wise, getting close to 60, all of my possibilities of doing this seem to be evaporating away. All I have to do is just do it. Every time I come up against doing it I find myself doing something else. Something about stepping forward to what needs doing and I can’t find the empowerment to do it. It’s about visualizing where we are in time and space and evolution. 2000 years ago, how far back is that. The dinosaurs died 65 million years ago. What is the relationship to big bang. What is the flow of time;. We are truing 800 miles an hour in this direction, 62 thousand miles an hour. Going to be there. We’re out living our , drifting our headlights. We used to walk down the path, chop down the tree. That didn’t matter much to the world. Now driving down the road in a supertanker. Each generation a flash. NO sense of road, speed, trajectory. Life is beautiful, evocative, the storyline, the context, the timeline for the great story and help show us where we are.
•    Kevin is helping people visualize where they are in place and time. Really powerful.
•    DO you have a request
•    All I’m trying to do is be a little exposed. TO encourage other people. I have a certain trust. Look, God is here. In respect to Jean Fs request, it feels that if we are going to take the next step, we have to step into something we don’t know how to do, too lazy to do.
•    Kevin, answer the question, not tell us your vulnerability.
•    I’m asking you as an individual, I’m touched by your story. DO you have a request for me and others to join, support, in whatever this is.
•    I have two requests. First is simple – talk to me later. We’ll talk about that. My request to the group is to somehow show up. TO step out. To find your edge. To come forward. Maybe for some it is to be quiet. Trying to mirror or demonstrate.
•    You are preaching now.
•    Bell rang.
•    How come you get to preach and I don’t get to preach.
•    When we step out into our vulnerability, it is important for us to be there, but not necessarily fix it. Let’s just hold it.
•    I have a decision to make. I don’t have a home right now. There’s a room open at Tom and Tree’s house which I’ll probably move into . Um, (dead spot with the microphone, laughter). Where to be? (lighter) Where to be that will support me, um. In the US my center has been in the Bay Area. So I’ll miss so much of my support networks, lovers, scary to think of not being there. But this household would be so awesome to be in. Anyone wanting to sit and talk with me about what I’m going to do.
•    I’ll be fast. Invite you to evolutionary Nexus in the online environment, moving online our identity, our wills, our desires.
•    Hi. I’m actually feeling kind of vulnerable. Haven’t been feeling much so far. Few things going through my body. The excitement of all the people. Feeling, gee, I just want to know every single one of them. Some anxiety in the air about where this is going, are we doing it the right way. So. I’ve been, part of the mix of the energy and the thinking that has been going on. What’s beginning to happen is I’m starting to feel some of “us” starting to coalesce and show up. It’s a little scary ‘cause I’m not sure what its going to look like. How it relate to my hopes and fears. Where I’m going to be in that. SO Im just sitting here with home and expectation of this whole emerging. It’s surprising. Some fear about what it might be and where I might be in it.
•    Recently in Seattle we had a think called Seattle Mind Camp where 150  geeks go together and did an open space for 2 days. Awesome. Incredible. After we had a mailing list. From the list you would have thought this was the worth possible event. No one is having a good time. Everything is horrible. I said it was a great event. People were passionate. Making things. Organizations, Inspired. There’s something that happens in group where we start, Oh know, I don’t know. I think its good there is self criticism and self reflection. How we grow and develop. Remind us that we’re doing awesome things. I can only give my own anecdote. I was in there talking and realize I come from the geeks here we understand certain things and visions that answer many things that are being asked, but I realized I would have to write a book. And now I am going to write a book. I learned I needed that. Before I Thought “its on the internet everyone knows that.” IN addition tow working on software projects I’ve seen many things come together here, begin, the fruits of many projects. I can’t wait to read for my daughter Dana’s story. These beautiful pictures. So.
•    I’m a woman with sometimes inarticulate and sometimes fabulous voice. When I get into the realm of emotions and feelings it breaks down. There’s a place where I can come from as victim. A place where I can come from my full power. I want to know that place when I’m speaking from victim in myself. For a long time, I was confused by, it’s one of my tendencies to place emotion in place of thinking clearly. Feel strongly about something that should override thinking. But it’s all about connection. And I can feel strongly, but if I am not knowledgeable of my limitations, or default reaction patters, I’m not communication. Only when I’m connected with my self, my source. I’ve a  fiend here who for a year called me on my stuff. And I deeply appreciate that. And everybody’s stuff is for them to discover, but it’s not about feeling bad or good. But there is something about feeling really good that allows you to reflect on what’s not working for you. When something is not working for me, not having a relationship or thing, I know I’m in the way, nothing else is in the way. I’m willing to support anyone in reflecting on what might be in their way. And I ask that in return. Aubrey put his hand on me when I was aligned and said that’s passion. When I started to preach, he said, you’ve lost it. I don’t know yet. I’m tuned in enough to my stuff to know when I’m off and on. I need feedback. Contrast. But he did it in love.
•    (Alexander plays his flute)
•    Thank you David, but I don’t know what should I say. Some time, for me, I’m shy ot speak English, my third language. Not easy to craft some language. But when I speak, I must feel moved. And today I sit here and I observe myself, I observe the energy in the field. And its come about. Impermanence. This up and down. I don’t know how to go with it. This word impermanence. Movement. Evolution. A key word for me. Second, when I observe people have very good intention. I have good intentions to do something. That’s why Im here 10.000 miles away without any expectation. I know I will gain a lot. I become alive. Tomorrow will be more. I know it and I carry back home and do something back home. When we try to speak, something is blowing away. Sometimes it is real difficult to bring something unspoken to spoken. Like they say, Tao has no name. (Battery dying, missed a bit) How we can speak. This institute carries us to that process of evolution. Initiative. Everything is vibration. Even in listening. Vibration. Vibration. IN us. IN nature. When we speak. But as I also in Thailand I saw fishermen, farmers who cannot speak English. They spoke with traveler. They enjoy without understanding. How can they understand and love each other, be friendly, have fun. When we start to speak, we seem to disconnect. Even we try to connect. This is a question to me on how we can solve this problem. That’s what I want to say. Thank you. I don’t know what to say.
•    We had an amazing conversation last night, we made an agreement that David hesitated to share something of that story. We go the into part of it through Chiwat. Chiwat has gathered 3,000 to build a new movement. Used Open Space, World Café and AI. Invited by leadership to do this. Has built a process in national government for transformation. Carlos has done a similar initiative in Mexico working with the national government. Not to make small changes, but transformation. Two individuals who are living evolution. I as an American have so much to learn from seeing what they have achieved. Grateful you have come thousands of miles, you have both been so beautifully present, understated. I would invite people if they really want to see something profound, grab a few moments with those two and I honor you deeply, knowing from the inside out, beautiful modeling. You beautifully inspire model it. We came up with a term from Mark Jones, emanating his presence so we have a space held. He came up with the term Bohdisanga. Enlightened community. We committed as a Bodhsanga, Chiwat’s path as … I invite us into that space of the BohdiSanga.
•    Ho
•    Holding microphone I smy vulnerability. Being seen. The energy that we feel is the promise of river, sound of raindrops. I’m on the other side of the coin that joy speaks of. I embrace my reason, but my heart. (breath) I stand here, in trust. That’s what springs up from the middle. The trust from everyone who is willing to step up and be vulnerable. This space is large enough to hold all of us. The whole world. In every single mind I’ve touched there’s a spark that is, has the potential and in many cases is the loving warm light that is nurturing and caring and embraces. All of us in our diversity. Has the potential to embrace all of us regardless if we are in the circle or not. I cannot hold, contain the entire river and the raindrop. But  I do not need to contain the river because the river contains me.
•    So I’ve been trying to think of evolutionary metaphors. Reproductive success comes to mind. Which is why all of us are needed. And that’s not just about the children, though it is about the children, great grandchildren. About survival on the bio community level, ecological and planetary level. About our own survival. So what I’ve been having wonderful conversations, that’s in the back of my mind. What are we doing. We heard some examples that haven’t been surfaced as widely as they could be to ensure the success of this meme of evolution and our communities. Meme I’m carrying with me as I go into the next day. My synthesis of this moment of masculine and feminine is vulnerable engagement. Standing enough in the stream to hold my ground, go down stream. Hold discomfort. We all find a different place from that. I want to keep the vulnerably engaged into my Jewish tradition in making the world right. Encourage all of us to step in where we can. Remind it is a stepping in, not just for ourselves but for the whole all around.
•    Need to respectfully stay my vulnerable space closed down a little bit. My own just feeling the vulnerability present. My ability to sit with that. My head got lost in following the words of your offering. I wanted to share that.

Flute

•    So, since this is the time, since this is my sense that what is alive now will stay alive. We conclude with community meeting. And Margo and I had an idea that we want to conclude hearing everyone’s voice at the same time. Then we’ll have announcements and dinner.

Announcements:
•    I usually don’t do this kind of stuff. I did something people told me not to do. I’m going to the end of everybody’s book, go to the last word Openness, openness, openness, openness, openness. I’m saying that, right now, going to this place right now, I feel these people, feel stuff, I got to say this right now. What I’ feel and been feeling. How all these people who talk about openness and authenticity make all these boxes for people to buy. How do I bust open this box, this Pandora’s box. How do I do that, ya know? How do I do that with this group or any group. I’m offering my announcement. I hear you. You know what when you told me your story, working for Microsoft. It’s open source. Straight up. You gushy want evolution. What something even you can belief in and see all the way through and none of us are going to control. If anyone thinks they are going to control, I’ll be the first one to point the finger. I mean this. If you want to save the world, the environment, do all this great stuff. Is that what you really really want to do , give it a way. Let them learn and know. Its about sharing and community and bridging into a world that I can’t even begin to explain. I don’t have the time to right now. Oh man, so I say this to you with an open heart, getting on my hands and knees, begging god almighty, please god, help these people to see we all have the answers if we share it all something amazing is going to happen. It already is. If it takes me an announcement to told it, then this is my answer.