What I'm thinking about, and planning on writing (and podcasting) about soon:
Open Space: Ever
since I began learning about Open Space, I've been trying to 'improve'
it (especially, trying to impose a 'framework' on the process and Open
Space competency training on the invitees). Now I know a bit more about
Open Space, I realize how foolish that was, and thank practitioners of
OST for being so patient with me. I once believed that my 'sweet spot',
where my Gift, my Passion and my Purpose intersect, was fomenting
dissatisfaction; more recently I restated it as facilitating
self-change. Now I'm thinking that it's closer to my greatest Gift of
imagining possibilities -- facilitation is too 'passive' a role for me
(I am not especially competent at or passionate about such a role). How
can I capture, in a few words, this idea:
The
capacity to be a sounding board, observing, listening, imagining and
interjecting relevant possibilities, and showing tools and methods that
might improve effectiveness, to help people let themselves become who
they really are and do what they were meant to do.
Not a coach, not a facilitator. Something in between, perhaps. Is there are name for this?
Vulnerability Not Neediness:
Last week I mentioned that the capacities needed to be an excellent
collaborator and those needed to be an exceptional sexual partner were
surprisingly similar. It occurs to me that the capacities needed to be
an excellent member of a Natural Community or Natural Enterprise are
likewise similar to those needed to be an exceptional life partner. One
of the qualities we find attractive is a voluntary vulnerability that
stems from openness, independence, strength and self-confidence, not
from dependence and neediness.
We Are 26%:
I read last week (and am trying to find it again) that 26% of North
Americans say they would buy products that are socially and
environmentally responsible, and locally made, or would do without,
rather than buy cheap imported junk, even if this involved considerable
extra expense, or some self-sacrifice on their part. More
interestingly, the economic demographic of this 26% is apparently
U-shaped -- it is the poor and the rich who would do so, while the
lower-middle to upper-middle classes remain mostly addicted to
consumption.
Book Reviews: The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman, and How Everyday Products Make People Sick, by Paul Blanc.
Vignettes: Coming up soon, vignette #5.
Blog-Hosted Conversations:
Starting the last week of August, once a week, this blog will feature
30-minute conversations, initially on the subject of "What is your
model of a better way to live, and what capacities do we need to
develop or re-learn to live that way?"
Open Thread Question:
If
you were suddenly put in the position of having to look after a
severely incapacitated loved one full time, how would you handle it? |
MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
