Here's my celebration list.  Regret I may miss some of the festivities tomorrow.  I'll do all I can.

1. Closeness to sensing a group consciousness esp on several occasions. (rare & invigorating to me)
2. Being with others who seek self awareness and honesty.  My admiration to Sam for his unrelenting practice to push these attributes.
3. Honesty. (I have more to say personally)
4. Fierce topics.  Depth.
5. Facilitation.  Lessons in listening and patience.  Trusting gentle instruction & guidance, shaping an affectionate inner and outer exploration.
6. A backyard fence.  An easy to use written forum that was the basis of many meaningful dialogues and for me important personal lessons. 
7. My education has been given a shot from a wealth of expertise, stories, and organizations, art, poetry, videos and personal connections.
8. A place to be heard, to try stuff and test what it sounds like.  Resistance.
9. Friendship or acquaintance with surprising human sensitivity, tenderness, depth, love, as well as some intellect.  
   Care and compassion.  Friendships.
10. Products.  My own personal growth in listening.  A Declaration of Interdependence.  Group calls having spontaneous silence... one lasting ~7 minutes.  Wealth in high quality information, research, creativity, spiritual explorations.
11. A beginning step toward human harmony. (see Honesty)
12. Request.  Can those who consent receive a contact list to encourage friendships & future connections? (.. in addition to help making possible continuing dialogues.)

Thank you again everyone for a great ride!  Our last call felt just right to me, including the mix of regular and less frequent participants.  

Loved Gabi's suggestion at the end that we do a reunion call in three-to-six months, so stay tuned!

Here are the things I am involved in moving forward that I mentioned at the end of our call:

• "New Town Cafe" (still in an emergent phase).  My original conception was for something that would have looked a lot like Occupy Cafe in many respects, with the additional of an in-person dimension here in Newtown and other in-person hubs elsewhere as well.  I should have a better sense by mid-February if this space, or something else like it, will be something I want to bring forth.  Your feedback is welcome.
• The Conversation Collaborative is launching in partnership with Occupy Cafe regular and core team member Heather Tischbein. We would love to work with anyone who might have an idea for the following:
  • A juicy conversation series that people would pay to participate in, perhaps themed in ways that are similar to what we have been doing in the Cafe
  • Some kind of tangible outcome tied to the process
  • Our initial engagements might involve:
    • Gathering virtually, a la Occupy Cafe, and perhaps also in person
    • ~100 people
    • A pre-designated time frame of between two to eight weeks
    • A commitment of ~five hours/week for each participant
  • Some themes we are considering:
    • Warriors for the Human Spirit (inspired by Meg Wheatley's So Far from Home)
    • Work Revolution
    • Thriving Cascadia
    • Sustainable Agriculture Quantum Leaps
    • Fostering a national conversation around death, dying and end-of-life care
  • If you have an idea, or want to share something about one of the above themes, please go to our Conversation Collaboratory.
• The Macroscope for Online Dialogue and Deliberation. This has been submitted as a project candidate for the NCDD Catalyst Awards, an opportunity to receive grant money to launch collaborative projects related to dialogue and deliberation.  OC's own Pia Lizana will be working with me on this if we win.  If we don't win, I plan to look for other funding sources to pursue this project.  For detailed information on this project, click here.  Below is an excerpt from the project summary:
  • Can we come up with something that does for online dialogue what the spreadsheet has done for numerical and data analysis?  Can we create a simple, intuitive and highly flexible set of tools that allow for endless creativity in the way online conversations get structured and mapped?  Can we make online conversation so dynamic that it takes on the addictive qualities of a massive multiplayer game?  
    That is the goal of the Macroscope--a term Joel de Rosnay introduced to describe a tool that reveals the complexity of a thing. In the realm of online dialogue, a macroscope would allow us to have highly nuanced conversations of all kinds and purposes. One might also think about this tool as a "super-forum."

I have enjoyed the calls that I was able to participate in.  I was proud to be part of a group of mature individuals who were considering the various issues deeply.  I am grateful to Ben and Jitendra for the time that they devoted to this effort for so long.  It does seem that the Occupy Movement in general has settled down, though I will never be the same for the attentive awarness that it raised within me regarding our governmental structures.

I wish both of you all the best and whatever your hearts desire to pursue in the future.  It has been a pleasure getting to know each of you, even a tiny amount.  I was traveling when the last calls occurred and so, come a bit late to leave greetings and farewells.

Peace & Blessings,

Deb