Ben: I would have to see action and progress - one of the Achilles heels of this kind of thing is a lot of talk - when talk is detached from action, it's detached from reality
Brian: More insights - we need action, but sometimes we need spaces that give us a sense of connectedness and foundation - the change we're going for is so large, that we'll need that connectedness to help us reach the tipping point
John: I'm wary of this polarity between talk and action. That said, I would want a sense that this is contributing to my work, or that my presence is contributing to others doing work that is meaningful to them and to me.
Jen: Attracted to a statement from last breakout. Less sure that we have a collective idea about what it is that we're talking about. Tom drew the Purpose card, and we haven't yet articulated our purpose. Would come back if the purpose is articulated in a powerful way and is something I can align with. Going on the action side - if action is going to come out of this group that makes a real difference to our articulated purpose
Ben: Transcend the duality - Iteration and integration between talk and action. What of our actions have worked, and what have not worked? Blue sky thinking valuable, risk of getting stuck in it, thus the need for integration.
Jen: Be in"dialogue" with the world/reality.
Ben: Yes!
Brian: Agree.
John: Makes action part of the dialog - act, and then be open to honestly look at what the world is saying back to you.
Jennifer: I've just made a connection with"reflective practice"
Ben: How do we incorporate that as an actual practice? How do we develop systems where we collectively do reflective practice? Each of us can only see from behind our two eyes, so getting together with others supercharges it.
John: This is helping me transcend the polarity - I can imagine sharing from my own work and having others' perspectives contribute to my work - so we need not take action together - this group could magnify/multiply my reflection on dialogue in the world
And I would also be excited about collective actions from this group - it's a"both/and"
Can this become a group that helps me multiply my impact through reflective practice in this group.
???: We can integrate the lessons learned from disparate projects - the overlapping from Vin(?) diagrams - our interests may overlap/align - spontaneous collaborations may arise
Jennifer: Group inspires me by its consciousness of process. Action always has an inherent theory of change. An ongoing poling at these theories of change would keep me coming back. And seeing if our means are aligned with our values.
John: I'm going to swing to something more tangible - one area that d&d could help a lot with is helping people in different groups with different perspectives to build coalitions. Helping groups find common agreements and helping groups like the garden club work with the environmentalists and building even bigger connections. D&D could play a very important role there - finding ways to articulate and draw out in a substantive way. Making connections between our relationship with the natural world and are social relationships clear. And there could be projects that develop from this call that could start to move in that direction.
Jennifer: I think we have to find the common ground where we can work with people who are very different from us and people who we might see as opponents to our work. These things are too big to not work across traditional lines.
Back to +12/15 Call: Collaborative Notes