Art of Convening: Graduate Community

Celebrate the 1st Heart of the Convener Retreat

Join 40 other AoC Grads at the 1st

1st Heart of the Convener Retreat
A Gathering of AoC Graduates
Thurs May 2 - Sun May 5     

We are hosting the 1st convergence of AoC Grads and want you to join us! In our 9th year, it's time to celebrate! With over 450 graduates of AoC Trainings ...

Come celebrate with your friends and cohorts from your training for the 1st Annual Heart of the Convener Retreat: A Convergence of AoC Grads! The Retreat will bring together grads from around the world, with stories of how convening is a transformational difference in their work and lives. 

Gathering of the Tribes- poem

AoC Advanced 5 Grad Terry Chapman wrote this poem for all the Grads in tribute to the upcoming Heart of the Convener Grad Retreat.

The Gathering of the Tribes

Deep in the forest of inquiry

separate tribes gathered around

camp fires in familiar circles of wisdom.

Lighting a torch from the fires, 

each elder spoke

with one voice:

Here comes the Sun! Gifts of the morning

I've been shooting sunrise photos this winter from our home on Lake Calhoun in downtown Minneapolis. And what to my wondrous eyes should appear each morning, but this miraculous sphere of energy that brings us such joy and sustains life. Here is todays gift, as shot through our icy storm window, along with a poem by Mary Oliver.
Craig Neal

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety—

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light—
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
Mary Oliver

Your Life Catches Fire

sunrise photo through the frozen storm door,

by Craig, 2/20

When you die to what
you thought was true
everything in your life catches fire.

You are the instrument
not the music
If you think you are the music
you will stop at
the final bar

If you become an instrument
for the music,
you will go on playing
no matter where you are
or who’s conducting
the gig is never over. 

The heart is always singing
Yes.
The mind is always shouting
No. 

Between the two
we come and go
safe on the solid shore of maybe. 

John Squadrea, from The Compass of the Rose

Love and The Art of Convening

by Cindy Wold

I started a graduate program this fall and am interested in carrying “love” as a scholarly topic of study and as a theme for my program. As I research this topic I am finding many others who are taking love as a serious phenomenon worthy of understanding for the sake of human wellbeing and effective relationships. The time seems right to dig deeper into this subject.

I find myself, still, passionately interested in studying the meaning and practice of love. I say “still” because this is not a new interest. It has its roots in many life experiences, in reading and study and, surprisingly, in the co-authoring of The Art of Convening!

Many years ago I read Erich Fromm’s classic book, The Art of Loving. In the book, Dr. Fromm posits that love is a not simply a sensation we may or may not be lucky enough to feel, but is indeed an art which one must study and practice to master. In the book he gave advice on how to both recognize and practice the art of loving.

When I collaborated with Craig and Patricia on writing The Art of Convening book, I began to think about one of the practices of loving that Fromm presented in his book: the quality of concentration.

The Benefits of Poetry for Professionals

HBR Blog Network
The Benefits of Poetry for Professionals
by John Coleman  | November 27, 2012

Wallace Stevens was one of America's greatest poets. The author of "The Emperor of Ice-Cream"and "The Idea of Order at Key West" was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1955 and offered a prestigious faculty position at Harvard University. Stevens turned it down. He didn't want to give up his position as Vice President of the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company.

This lyrically inclined insurance executive was far from alone in occupying the intersect of business and poetry. 

Martin Luther King

Lord, who can be trusted with power,
and who may act in your place?
Those with a passion for justice,
who speak the truth from their hearts;
who have let go of selfish interests
and grown beyond their own lives;
who see the wretched as their family
and the poor as their flesh and blood.
They alone are impartial
and worthy of the people's trust.
Their compassion lights up the whole earth,
and their kindness endures forever.

(A Book of Psalms, translations by Stephen Mitchell)

Thank you to Panhala

Web version: www.panhala.net/Archive <http://www.panhala.net/Archive/In_Memory_of_MLK.html>  

 

 

The Art of Opening the Circle to be in Essential Conversation

Continuing the journey around the Convening Wheel, we find ourselves at the 7^th Aspect, Essential Conversation, which allows for meaningful exchange in an atmosphere of trust and lays the groundwork for the 8^th Aspect, Creation, to be possible.

We are now ready for something new to emerge from the authentic engagement of the group.

• Margaret Wheatley says, “Conversation is how humans think together.” "Opening the circle", by allowing for reflections and comments from anyone in the group who feels compelled to speak, is a way we can process what we have heard and allow something that is more than the sum of the parts to emerge. 
•  
• Conversation is most powerful when personal story telling and deep listening are present.  It is also about surfacing all that arises out of the listening and sharing process in a mindful and respectful way:

- We can sense the “questions that lie beneath the questions” to let emerge what is essential.

- We can become aligned with what is at the Heart of the Matter as a collective group – expressing shared core values and vision. 

What is your committed step forward to serve?

The Art of Convening is a vital study for anyone serious about developing their talents as a convener of meaningful conversations. Within my indigenous culture there is a prophecy that speaks to the survival and evolution of our society occurring when the committed step forward to serve as the facilitators of meaningful conversation.

The wisdom contained in The Art of Convening can surely aide these caring activists in serving our communities and organizations as the responsible leaders that our society needs. I extend my appreciation to the authors Craig and Patricia Neal for providing the “Convening Wheel” framework to guide gatherings that can give rise to meaningful and authentic conversations. My experience as a community organizer, meeting facilitator, and ceremony leader has only been enhanced by the wisdom they share in this powerful handbook. -- Roberto Vargas

What is your committed step forward to serve?