​​Harvesting Pad 13: Griet Hellinckx
​​Part of "DandDTrans," a community of inquiry and action regarding the role that dialogue and deliberation can play in addressing the mega-crises of our time
​​Image courtesy of www.NewStories.org
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​​@Griet Hellinckx​ 

​​Please use the this space to share your thoughts now about Tom’s original question and what occurred for you over this past month of involvement: What do we, as members of the dialogue and deliberation community of practice, have to be and do to enable our most positive transformational impact in the face of emerging global crises which fundamentally challenge our business-as-usual habits and systems? 
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​​Use the queries below if they help but don’t feel bound to respond to them or be in any way limited by them. Tell the stories and give the details that will make your ideas and experiences come alive. 
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​​Please write your post in the "My DandDTrans Story" section below the three prompts that follow:
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​​What you gained:  What new insights, challenges, ideas, inquiries, or actions came up for you from your participation this past month? What possibilities have opened up or been further reinforced?  
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​​What you experienced: How did you feel or change at different points in this process? Which processes did you participate in? Which were new to you? For processes you’ve experienced before, what was it like doing them online? What worked for you, and why? What didn’t? How might you use or change these processes on another occasion? What about the web tools used? Maestro? Hackpads? Zoom (if you experienced that)? Any others?
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​​What next: What are you doing, will do or might do as related at least in part to the question that brought us together and/or as a result of what we have done together? Who else would (might) you involve? 
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​My DandDTrans "Story"

​​For quite some years I have been keeping my ears & eyes wide open when I  hear  about groups of people meeting in deep inquiry in service of  humanity and the earth. I see a lot of potential and a chance for more coherent, non-polarising approaches, when activism is grounded in  silence &  deep inquiry. 
​​As I did not remember how and when I heard about this DandD  initiative/series of conversations, I checked it. It must have been  through Tom  Atlee's newsletter at the end of December. What was written  there made me curious and had me enroll. As I am based in Germany, I did  not know  what "Dialogue and Deliberation" stood for, but in Peggy  Holman's book I  found some basic information. 
​​Reading some of the intros and writing my own one, I noticed my   "outsider" position. I am not part of the DandD-community and I am  probably the only non-native speaker. I did not even notice any other   participants from Europe. 
​​I deeply appreciated it that Ben R. sent me an email thanking me for   having written a few lines as intro and offering help with the overall   system in case I needed it. To me this gesture was not self-evident.   Among other things it pointed for me to the sincerity and strong  attitude of service among the people in this group. I am very grateful  for that. 
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​​Here the perspective of the outsider: 
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​​I feel honored that I found myself in the company of a group of people  that are so deeply and sincerely concerned about the state of the world;  strong and smart individuals who have studied, read, written,  accomplished and contributed so much and (nevertheless) - in the  context of the huge challenges we are faced with - feel the urge to collectively look for ways that can have a larger and lasting impact. I  listened to people who were willing to  question what they do, who  confessed their not-knowing, suspended judgement, felt and expressed  the pain and urgency of the change that is needed in the world, and who  are hoping that by listening more deeply patterns and approaches that  they are not yet aware of will become visible, so that one can act upon  them. A bow of deep respect to us all! 
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​​The amount of information on the hackpads was overwhelming, and at the same time inspiring. The same holds true for the variety of   conversations and forms of communication. I especially enjoyed  "zoom", which was new to me and which felt like an easy-going alternative to skype calls. Maestro + extras tends to be too much for the capacity of the internet connection I have here, as I am at the same time using skype to call in.
​​At the beginning of the series of talks it felt like there was a lot of excitement and expectation as to what might be the result of those conversations. When I sense into the overall field at the end of  this series, there seems to be on the one hand awe, gratitude and an  even stronger sense of urge, urgency and potential, but also quite some  overwhelm, disorientation, impatience and discontent. For me they are  signs of the so-called groan zone (see: Sam  Kaner’s diamond of  participation). I guess it might be true that all learning conversations  take place along this flow of thinking (from divergence through the  groan zone to convergence). I'm curious to see if the harvesting team  will be able to help this "virtual"  group move to convergence. Not an  easy task. 
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​​Ben R's supersaturation theory was new to me, but I resonate with it.  It  helps me to relax and trust that whatever harvest is possible or  not, all that was said and written and thought about is contributing to  this  process of saturation. 
​​In a similar way I feel that there is a process on hand where an   overarching "field" starts becoming visible: There are all over the   world so many circles and groups that are doing something similar, with  differing methods, but with a similar drive and direction. I like to  call them (potential) "circles of wisdom". As far as I can see & sense  they are connected without them necessarily knowing about one another.  I assume that when those groups, which are pioneering a new way of connecting  inquiry/dialogue and action, start connecting as well as learning from one another, the whole field of diverse circles and individuals in those circles gets stronger, can be nourished and  stabilized. As the work  that those groups do becomes more and more visible, and when it can be exemplified, taught, learned and adapted, then that which used to be a pioneering effort might gradually become the "new normal". 
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​​The conversations that I was involved in in this group or that I could  sense into thanks to the hackpads encouraged me to set up a new  platform where those diverse efforts can become visible in the ways I  have just mentioned. At this stage it is still an alpha-version and  needs more polishing and  fine-tuning, but listening to all of you, I  recognized the need for a platform where people coming from different  directions can share their  experiences and reflect on their questions. 
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​​Thank you to all of you! 
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​Comments on Griet's Story

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​Ben Roberts, 2/7
​​Thank you, Griet, for these valuable reflections, and for your willingness, as an "outsider," to not only show up but to claim that title. As my favorite guide to community building, ​+Peter Block​, writes:
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  • ​​Hospitality, the welcoming of strangers, is the essence of a restorative community. Historically, if strangers knocked at your door, you automatically invited them in. They would be fed and offered a place to sleep, even if they were your enemies. As long as they were in your house, they were safe from harm. They were treated as if they belonged, regardless of the past. This is the context of restoration we are seeking. Our hospitality begins with the invitation...
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  • ​​If the essence of community is to create structures for belonging, then we are constantly inviting people who are strangers to us, and one another, into the circle. An invitation is the antidote to our projection onto those we think are the problem. We take back our projection by extending ourselves to strangers. We make the invitation, in the face of our own isolation, having been waiting to be invited, wanting others to take the first step, wanting others to reach out to us, to acknowledge us and give us the gold star that never came at the right moment. This will never happen, so we are obligated to take the first step. 
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  • ​​Invitation may seem simple and straightforward, but it is not. Especially for introverts like me. I have never attended a party without wondering if I had the right night, and have never given a party without believing no one would come.
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​​So I am highly gratified to know that you felt welcomed, and also to see that you are now convening your own circle, and stepping into what Block refers to as "invitation as a way of being."
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​​I like your reflections about the "groan zone." We'll see if the harvesting work leads to more convergence. Would you be willing to help? Yes, ​+there is a team​ that is organizing, and you can also just do some "quote harvesting" on your own, spending as much or as little time on it as you like.
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​​My sense is that part of the reason there is less apparent convergence (especially around action) than many would like is that we actually don't know what to do that will make the kind of difference Tom is calling for. And the urgency we feel makes it even harder, causing a lot of pulling of energy towards what each of us thinks might be "the answer." The irony is that a feeling of fragmentation is the result of all that pulling. 
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​​​+The supersaturated solution metaphor​ suggests a nice way of holding this. If we are all part of a larger "solution," the "solids" we add to the liquid of "the field," while they may seem to dissolve and disappear, are actually increasing the overall level of saturation and bringing us closer to a point where crystallization can occur at scale. Also, heat, pressure, and/or evaporation are needed for supersaturation, so groaning (heat), and urgency (pressure), and even people "leaving the room" in frustration (evaporation), are all potentially generative!

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