AoH Pub conversations

Participants: Ravi, Bob, Helen, Ria, Kathy, Tenneson, Steve
 
Short check-in: what is in your heart? Real guiding question: what do we sense or notice in the AoH field?

 
Kathy: What's in my heart - gratitude to Ria for picking up the thread and holding for us in a way that we can all contribute, when we don't have to be in the same place. There's a joy about being able to see each other physically in the Steward's gathering at the Shire - it's good to connect periodicaly to connect with people whom I'm not working with - I know everybody but Helen - very happy to connect with you all.
 
Ria: I really connect back to what I was stepping forward to in June at The Shire. I want to host this AoH field, and I'm still figuring out what that means, but I think these monthly calls can be an important piece of that - like a sensing organ for the AoH field. I'm silent in my heart, and outside there's a storm. I'm happy.

Helen: Hi Kathy! I am also in Belgium, very windy and a kitten walking on my keyboard. What is in my heart is the knowledge that in the last week we are living in a different world; we are playing a new game. We are living the future now; you are - we are the people that can make this future possible.

Tenneson: What I recognise is some joy - I share the gratitude to Ria - Steve - YES! Bob, I haven't met, but I've seen pictures - good swordwork - Helen - indirect connection via Tatiana's camera. I'm looking outside at hard rain. For this time of year, it's trying to snow. The mountains are not far but the mountains are clouded almost all to the ground. I feel like I could sit in this window - or bundle up and go outside - I could sit for a couple of hours in the stillness - I feel the newness.

Ravi: Thinking back at the stewards gathering in the Shire. Toke had holding a lot, and then four stepped forward. Good what you do Ria. It is almost like we can sense all the others that are not here.

Bob: What's in my heart - mostly lately, I agree that we live in a different world now, it seems like that's happening on a regular basis and each time I notice my feeling of noticing things shifting and not being able to rely on old habits of how to do things - feeling a little frustration: "now what's up". Last week or so I've been holding my breath: where's the next entry? Once I've stepped into it the way to do things opens up and I can depend on myself. It's this in-between place, but I haven't stepped into the new place yet. I've been there before and I'll be there again.
 
Steve: I'm in the midst of my work day - just walked home. Now settling into a different pace, different pattern. I feel some excitement about the things that have happened over the past week. I feel myself wanting to celebrate my country rejoining the global community and appreciating the sense of welcome that I've received from so many people, especialy in the AoH community. It's time to get beyond the excitement and figure out what it means to get to work in this new world and what my place is. Sense of gratitude.
 
Circle conversation
Ria: What are you sensing or noticing in the AoH field? What do you see, where are you looking, in conversations. What is the overall feel of what is going on?
 
Ria: One thing I'm noticing: we are going to have an AoH in the dutch language in a few months. We are translating the workbook. We feel that there is some readiness here in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. I have connected with people who are French speaking in the AoH field, they had a gathering in Paris about how they can find the words in the French language - hosting, emergence, etc. They are on a new path - France, Quebec, Belgium.

Helen: Listening to Ria - the Dutch, the French - the challenge of this. My work in the European Commission - multi-lingual environment. We are called to make words completely transparant! These words of: hosting, talking piece, emergent etc. That has been a challenge for us: what is then the essence of our work? When you take away so many things that we are used to... It has to do with the quality of the inner field of the hosts, and the quality of the field that they can hold together, without speaking about it. I have been exploring some capacity building 'in a hurry'. I have to say “No” to speed; and work together across departments. People stepping in, and teach them about what it means to holding space etc. (will be posted on ENexus)
 
Kathy: Really curious about this language. Fairly frequently people are asking about these terms. Noticing in my work, more working with teams inside their organisations, they become curious about what I do and what I bring. The practice about it - hosting teams shift, how organisations shift - it creates more requests. The election of Obama ... how will that effect the flow that is happening in the world? Feel the connection between AoH work and ... curiousity about the language is intensifying for me.

Tenneson: Sparking in my chair! Quality of the field - hosting with Toke and Teresa and Nancy and some of the NY AoH practice team - I had'nt seen Toke in three years - the last time we worked together was on Bowen Island - it didn't feel like it was three years ago - it took us a while to get in - feel our space with one another. Once it was on it was on. I don't know how to language the invisible stuff - we could just hold the pattern so well with one another - we had the jazz music going, a  flow of easiness, adaptivity with one another. That shows up at all AoH's. People are starting to notice that more. By the end of the first day, people understand that they are here for more than a training. Heartfelt connections, stake-in-the-ground commitment. “I like what you guys do.” There's a bit about language that is important for me. And speed - we got further faster. Give people space to breathe in their trembling early on. That cooked the space. Not to fix it but to witness it with one another.
 
I love teaching the hobbit tools piece – more towards the end of the gathering. By the time people are starting to feel the heart energy, there is a profound level of friendship that shows up - doing the hobbit tools after that, it brings people into the expansiveness and just enough convergence, people leave with much more ideas to take home with them.
 
Ravi: Two levels. A year ago, at the harvest gathering at Axladitsa, what emerged was an understanding that the AoH was one expression of this work. There were two others that emerged, one strongly: the art of hosting meaningful places/spaces; the third, which didn't come in strongly - the art of hosting meaningful communities - Columbus, Halifax, through the Kingsmill. I'm seeing three legs of a stool. Greater solidity and structure. That's been with me since last November.
 
The other thing is that AoH is emerging without using the words explicitly – like in Envision Halifax. Year-long program using AoH as the Operating System, in a different flow, there's work that's happening using hosting processes - something is different but it hasn't been named. People are noticing it. It seems to be taking a life of its own and still holding - there's a difference from the techniques and processes, it's still holding its centre. It's flowing into the culture.
 
Steve: Living the AoH in a small organisation, finding myself connecting with the larger pattern. I resonate with the issue of language - hosting and emergence don't go down in the redneck community, but the pattern and spirit is growing and thriving - also art of protection, places, communities, participatory leadership, warrior of the heart - an evolution that seems to be going on.
 
Bob: I'm curious about the language piece. I've always been hesitant about worrying whether I use the right language when I don't know the language that the place is using... How is it for Toke? “I don't have time to worry about whether everybody's understanding my words." The words carry the field of what's happening, and there's an urge in me to get more articulate about what I'm saying. Recently, I've been trying to use language that suits – language becomes another tool. Using business language, etc. Letting myself speak in the way that will convey myself in the best way where I am, but if I get too caught up in that I loose the field. I'm curious about what transparent language means. Using jargon when nobody else knows what they mean is also a tool that keeps people from defining what they mean too quickly.
 
The other part of what I'm noticing: I'm more interested in not so much AoH but in bringing about transformation in the place - if it happens to be the tools, but it's about showing up and doing what needs to be done. It could be different names. That might be behind the proliferation of forms - we're doing the same thing, but the context is slightly different.
 
Something I feel in the AoH field - exploratory horizon, leading edge of what this is about, and there's maintaining, making sure what's happening has continuity - how do we maintain and grow what's here already?
 
Ria: Helen spoke about becoming a team, hosting a field, alignment in the hosting team. I am playing with the idea that 'being a really aligned hosting team' is part of our core competence in the AoH. It's not named very precisely. It's in 'finding your mates', but I wonder what we think of that?
 
Steve: Is this really a magic that always works? There's something about becoming aligned and working together and responding to whatever is happening - we have an amazing track record. Are there non success stories out there that don't get talked about or is this really as amazing as it seems?

Ravi: Is there a place where it works or not? maybe that is not the question. From my science background: experiments never worked the way we thought it would! In this work it is the same: you start with a design, and it might not be what you expect... you get to 3.0, 4.0 of the design. The process of constantly co-evolving what we are doing.
 
Tenneson: In Florida we will have a team with 11! One day with hosting team for designing. Many people don't have a lot of experience in AoH. Important will be the check-in! It is inviting people into a deep space; a resonance that is in the room. Tuning in, creates a map that feeeds to the whole AoH field. That check-in might be the most important thing we do; not when to do the WC or the OS. But: who are you? what do you care about? this brings in the quality of relationship and to create this together. We can talk all we want, but going in there: we have to play with what is there.
 
The quality .... doing the work that we are called in... and go for it.
 
What creates the magic? if we have that quality of intimacy and connection we are in there. If I am teaching I care a lot about language. But also: I have to be in the flow and not care about the words! On the magic side, we are activating something: to be in community, creating, ... all living system needs! It already resides in people, we only have to re-activate it; they remember what they know. It is all already present!
 
Because of what we hold in the team, when they see the love, jazz, creation, etc.... participants see it, feel it, it is present and then they pick it up. I think we activate fields. “Put the wierd in wierdo”
 
Kathy: We activate fields - that's part of what I resonate with - my inner quality impacts the quality of the team, which impacts the quality of the space we hold.
When we have the connection in the team, there is greater capacity to hold the field, there is trust - no worry about what will come out of anybody's mounth - there's a trust that binds the team together that enables this work – it helps people to show up in a heart space, which helps people show up much quicker - and cutting through the shit that helps get to that heart field much quicker and helps us all to become part of fields when we aren't present in a training or event. The internal quality of the person hosting impacts the quality of the team - the team can then carry us when we're off colour - the field/fields activates.
 
Ria: I got a skype message from Tamara and Thomas - they might join us but they've missed an hour...
 
Closing: patterns that we see now
 
Tamara arrives – and Thomas
 
Ria sums up - importance of using appropriate language in the context you are and creating a field with the hosting team.

Ravi: Some of the things that Kathy and Tenneson said, connected some dots for me. Coming againg from the science again: there are many fields ... also information field, Akasha field, where we can share information non-locally - and much more. I see many times that you have a check-in, and then the design emerges. I think it brings us out of the head, into the hearts, to allow that information to come to us.
 
Helen: It has to do with the field we were talking about. I think what we are finding is that every time we come together it is easier. “Next time the Buddha comes back, it will be a group of people.” But it is not the same group! to be able to hold stillness inside, lend our consciousness to the middle, so that the content of the field can move through us. Sometimes we are holding the field so that it can speak through other people. It is really evolutionary work, we are holding a practice that makes that possible. Almost without words,... it is contagious and people grock this. I don't think it is a remembering. I think we are creating a groove in consciousness, people who come after, will travel easier. Sometimes we are living the edge, others are consolodating the grooves.

We invite people into a field which is a remembering of the yearning the soul has, to be together. People recognise it as a 'spiritual experience'.
 
Ria: It seems like we're saying that through the heart connection we build the field that is able to let emergence happen – the design emerges; we know what to do.
 
Other patterns we want to speak from what we heard?

Helen: From the language piece: there is a polarity between being careful about the language that you use, and also don't give a fuck, because the field is speaking through you. When our attention is sufficiently high quality, and the field is speaking through us, it doesn't come from us. When we are speaking between us, and in the AoH training, we use a certain language. When working with other people, we use transparant language because they have to concentrate on the content. Between ourselves we can use 'field,' emergence etc. because that helps us.

Check out
 
Tenneson: Real hits today - juicy. I'll carry it with me. 'The groove' is staying with me. I think back to my experience of digging trenches. When I start it's hard, then I get used to it and get better. Instead of swinging pick-axes, What is the tool we're using to build the groove? I guess it is intention and manifesting.
 
Kathy: I'm carrying the idea of language, fields, groove - expansiveness of using language with partners. Intentionality around language you introduce. Juicy hits that make me feel enriched by being part of this experience this afternoon.
 
Ria: I'm always smiling when I have this kind of conversation where we get to new understandings and insights together. It makes me happy. I love it, I like it, and let's continue these conversations.
 
Ravi: I'm hungry for more of this. We're just starting to unwrap a present we didn't even know we were getting. I'd love to dive into this more with those who are hungry for this too.
 
Steve: I echo - I feel enriched and nourished by this conversation and that sense of how easy it is to fall into alignment with others working in this field - goes beyond the langauge and words. Something deep in the connection.
 
Bob: I have been sparked with language. Book by ?? on language. All language is an agreement. I'm left thinking about how we use language - if we introduce new language are we disrupting an agreement? I'm digesting what's been taken in here.

Helen: I echo Ria, big grin on my face! Sensing is one of my favorite passions. Thanks for letting me indulge!

Thomas: Everyone's drunk and I'm still sober - The energy was humming - I'm eager for the next round. Preview for the harvest, I'm looking forward to it. There's a lot going on here too in Brazil.
 
Tamara: Thanks for being able to listen - from what I could get, I resonate with using language  'inside' and 'outside' - I feel it very strongly in the world we do.