The Power of Dialogue: Vital Conversation for the week of 10/15

Occupy Cafe is grounded in the idea that "conversations that matter" are one of the highest forms of action.  The Occupy movement has demonstrated this by changing the global conversation.  What conversations do you see inspiring us to live into humanity's New Story?

Register for our Monday Vital Conversation Series
8-10a PDT | 11a-1p EDT | 3-5p GMT

David Isaacs, co-creator of the World Cafe process, asks "what if conversation is to people as water is to fish?"  Peter Block and others have suggested that all transformation is essentially linguistic, rooted in the stories we tell ourselves individually and collectively.

The core team of Occupy Cafe is currently attending the biannual conference of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD), a gathering of people who are inspired by the possibilities that emerge when conversations are designed and hosted with care, skill and trust in the wisdom of the group.  On our Monday call, we will share with you some of the insights and inspiration we have gleaned from the conference, as a launching point for  for dialogue about the conversations you believe have the power to create transformation.

We invite you to start this discussion now here on the forum:

  • Describe a time when you participated in a powerful conversation that rippled out into the world and catalyzed change.
  • What questions, if answered, could make a difference in the degree to which powerful conversations emerge and flourish in our society?

Views: 687

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Oh Helen... you profound me delightfully, surely being one with the singing heart. 

Ben et al... As I dance in and out of these conversations, sometimes to add, sometimes but to read, I realize that I am unclear what is meant by 'SYNTHESIS'. I gather that it is something greater than 'summary' and it implies an alignment...but what more?

Would y'all be good enough to speak to this?

Harvey

Meaning-making might be another way to think about it, Harvey.

Andrew Cohen, at the leading edge of world's spirituality, posted yesterday as a quote of the week:

...after we've seen beyond the veil of materiality and temporality for ourselves, we know without any doubt that it means something to exist. [full article at BigThink]

Ben, are you sure it (your statement above) can just be another way to think about synthesis? Upon Cohen's quote, in view of position he holds within integral movement, it may be much more.

Can we formulate any meaningful synthesis at any local level unless "WE" first synthesize the universal meaning of our human existence?

 

 

To go a bit further... Yes, summarizing and alignment are part of it, and i think you're right, Harvey, that there is also more than that..  Pawel probably has his own deep dive here too.  You could also look at all the cards in the Inquiry and Synthesis category of the GroupWorks deck for some quick insight.  The overall category is defined thusly:

Discovering coherence and moving toward convergence. From gathering information to exploring knowledge to arriving at understanding, shared meaning, consensus, or clear outcomes.

And here are a few cards...

Or perhaps this one:

And this one, which might be closer to where Pawel is coming from (LOVE the picture--here's a link to the page for this card, where you can see a higher res version and also read more about the concept as the GroupWorks folks conceive it):

:

I sure appreciate the seemingly small gesture of seeking common definition such as synthesis, Harvey. It's so helpful to me in my getting 'embedded' into a dialogue (even if I still don't 'have it' precisely yet). As I'm more embedded I can put away the maps and crash helmet and appreciate my light-weight omnidirectional spirit vehicle.

I might be ready to start including terms of convergent versus divergent thinking. This latter term appears to demand different skills.  For example in convergent thinking one gathers what they & others know, possibly synthesizing or creating new info from that... to solve a defined problem or prove an hypothesis.

Divergent thinking gathers from a universe of information, from an open perspective being on a mission, and looking for problems or interferences.  It's something like being given the answer and then constructing the most perfect all-inclusive question that fits and has no rivals.

Divergent thinking is how I'm wanting to think about Occupy (as a mission) because it's such a morass of man-made problems on top of problems on top of problems.  As Ben suggests the word Distillation comes to the fore... making the task a giant yet 'sensible' gathering up & understanding 'the reality of our time'... and not trying to solve what isn't yet, or can't be, understood.

All the time... in the back of my mind...  I 'know' the journey IS 'the reality of our time'.  And the coup-d-gras could be in letting go the 'idea' of needing to do something unnatural (force, control), or having to change others, etc.. but rather finding a way to bring into life the act of 'allowing'.

Dyck’s post is about thinking. May I take the opportunity to ask the question I try to answer for myself from the beginning of my participation in OC discussions?

On the group Occupy 2.0: Transforming Systems from the Inside Out  Doreen Agostino said then (almost a year ago):

Occupy Wall Street = unaware people believe the lie that we are separate from The Oneness, from One another, Earth, all Kingdoms.

I asked:  And who is the liar?

Doreen answered:  I'd say the liar is a thought, a thought that limits us.

I fully agree with Doreen. My question concerns the conclusion of her statement. Logically there are three possible conclusions:

  1. Stop thinking, act upon directives coming from somewhere outside of individuals’ consciousness
  2. Change the way we think
  3. Reset the content of consciousness - essential, common data founding all thinking.

Doreen opted for a. Neither b. nor c. have ever been considered.  Exploring the teachings at the leading edge of post-postmodern spirituality I found simple, straightforward answer [Allan Combs, director of Center for Consciousness Studies in recent issue of Spanda Journal]:

Thus in Evolutionary enlightenment, the practice of assuming no relationship to the content of consciousness... makes space for the limitless creative potential of the evolutionary impulse to reveal itself.

My question: By what power the conclusion a. has come into force? (content of consciousness is the substance of thought)?

Pawel, I'm not clear about what exactly are you asking... and what conclusion are you referring to in my post?  Or, is there rather a broad point you want make?

ps, in my opinion you have just as much credibility as Doreen X (or Allen Y), and they aren't present for clarification or challenge or context considerations.  ... whatever comes from your experience and understanding and sincerity, I'll believe you and hold it in high regard.

Thank you very much for high regard :-). My experience however may be a little strange for you (different backgrounds). I regard myself as observer from outside and try to synthesize what I hear you saying. My experience may come in later.

By “you” I mean wide range of Movements, from Occupy, through Transition to Integral.

Half of your post was about thinking, so I believed it is a good moment for synthetic question on this subject.

Synthesis of my almost 5 years observation is that “you” think thinking is a distraction and stands in the way of spiritual knowledge coming from the heart. To act for better future “WE” should stop thinking (the quotes I used to support the synthesis). To what degree is this synthesis correct?

Referring to your ps: I thought synthesis means something like common denominator of members of a group within framework of specific discussion. Doreen Agostino (member of occupy café) and Alan Combs (member of establishment of integral spirituality) marked the range of the BIG group I have chosen as source of synthesis.

Love those cards Ben - and wow I love to think about what the originators might make of them, passing them from hand to hand as they gathered to debate and think and discuss on the steps of the the Athenaeum :-)

I have been requesting that some synthesizing energy be directed to our Sacred Economics thread, and meaning to devote some of my own to that end as well.    Perhaps the emergent conversation about "synthesis" we see here could be enriched by an exercise in actually doing some over there!

Ben, I posted this as reply to your  yesterday post about meaning. I think you did not notice it:

Andrew Cohen, at the leading edge of world's spirituality, posted yesterday as a quote of the week:

...after we've seen beyond the veil of materiality and temporality for ourselves, we know without any doubt that it means something to exist. [full article at BigThink]

Ben, are you sure it (your statement above) can just be another way to think about synthesis? Upon Cohen's quote, in view of position he holds within integral movement, it may be much more.

Can we formulate any meaningful synthesis at any local level unless "WE" first synthesize the universal meaning of our human existence?

RSS

Weekly Cafe Calls

Regular Calls are no longer being held.  Below is the schedule that was maintained from the Fall of 2011 through Jan 10, 2013.

Mondays
"Vital Conversations" 

8-10a PDT | 11a-1p EDT | 3-5p GMT 

Tuesdays (except 10/16)
"Connect 2012"

1-3p PDT | 4-6p EDT | 8-10p GMT


Thursdays
"Occupy Heart" 

3-5p PDT | 6-8p EDT | 10p-12a GMT

Latest Activity

Clay Forsberg posted a blog post

"Happy Birthday Occupy Wall Street ... thoughts on Year One"

Fifteen years ago, I ran across a book, "100 Most Influential People in History," during one of my dalliances to my local Marin County bookstore. "Influential People" was one man's assessment on exactly that. But how he determined his rankings was the interesting part. They weren't always the reasons you would think. But after thinking about it, they made complete sense. For example:George Washington was ranked in the top 40 of all time. Understandable. But the reason why ... not so much. You…See More
Sep 20, 2012
Clay Forsberg is now a member of Occupy Cafe
Sep 20, 2012
Vic Desotelle posted a group
Thumbnail

Leadership Ecology

When a Leadership Ecology occurs, a web of relationships emerges revealing each person’s authentic leadership qualities through the transfer of their power to others. When done in a conscious way – a shared collaborative awakening happens.See More
Feb 6, 2012
Vic Desotelle posted a blog post
Feb 3, 2012

Photos

  • Add Photos
  • View All

© 2024   Created by Occupy Cafe Stewards.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service