At some point this year I decided to head back to Bowen for my second Art of Hosting. One of the runes I pulled on Whidbey Island said I was about half-way through a two year transformation. Bowen marked when I packed my bags for a new path in life; a journey from who I was a year ago to who I am now, and looking forward to who I’ll be a year from now.
My first time I carried no specific questions other than what was this art referred to as hosting and if it was for me. I was like the circle in Shel Silverstein’s story looking for it’s missing piece and was unprepared for the emotion that would come from finding that piece and having to let it go in four precious days. This time there was familiarity with the land, the hosting team, some of the rhythms and curiosity about what might be different. My questions were different and a quote that came across my Tweet-stream in the preceding days was a fitting centre to my queries:
“Neo, sooner or later you’re going to realize, just as I did, that there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.” – Morpheus
- Knowing the path and walking the path; have I truly “walked on” to this path?
- Riding the wave of my practice – what are the dying practices? New practices? Horizon practices?
- Doing this work as an inside consultant; what do I need to know?
- What new limiting beliefs/shadow do I discover in myself? (trust!!, need to build, safety etc, getting “buy-in”)
- Exploring different approaches to coaching using The Work of Byron Katie – what does this look like?
- Teresa’s move from dialogue work to Art of Hosting practices – what was different? (old leadership models don’t work, change models; moved to leader as host, coaching based on values)
My harvest is different this time; less a story of the overall experience and more jewelled fragments; little missing pieces or new big pieces to my art that is hosting. The harvest posts arriving this week:
- AoH Sunday Eve: Check-in and World Café
- AoH Monday: Six Breaths and The Work of Byron Katie
- AoH Tuesday: Knowledge Camps, World Café and Open Space
- AoH Wednesday: Opening Space (Flowing) and Closing
All my photos can be found here.
(For my previous AoH harvest see here – V. One to Six.)