Welcome to my personal harvest from my Art of Hosting 2011 journey…
Wednesday morning check-in; a visualizing of our journey so far. Thinking about these four questions (written in our journals with four windows: east, south, west, north), then standing up and turning to each direction and invited to say a word. Before we moved on a blessing on that direction was shared.
- East: things I want to welcome today
- South: things I want to hold onto today
- West: things I want to let go of today
- North: things I still don’t know today
Opening Space one last time with the question “What is still burning for you? Teaching? Project? Burning questions?” And the harvest invitation to condense to a story to share with the larger group (max 4 minutes).
I sat with a group collaborating on questions for a project; What would we want our superintendent to know about our school and us (our strengths? What makes us unique?) What could our school system also be? And, what kind of leadership will get us there? Idea later on to create a centre with photos of the children to include them in the space somehow. To harvest after two rounds. And think about how the harvest can feed forward into the next steps in the hiring process; what artefacts will serve that well? Multiple forms of harvest to tell the story in different ways. Side note: loved the description of a “committed series” instead of “cohort”.
Flow Game with Tenneson; supporting each other in individual and shared journey. An umbrella question “What have you learned about yourself this week?” Roll the dice, draw a card, respond to yourself or out loud, invite response if you like. Similar to Open Space can play the game for longer periods of time; helps us be in tune with ourselves. Our harvest is here.
Moving into closing with the carried forward tradition of the Kleco! Kleco! bowl filled with unexpressed gratitudes. And the check-out question “How then shall I live?” Me: I live with the feeling of this path a little firmer under my feet.
The story of Tolkien’s creation of the world and the task of shifting the world: taking the ring to the volcano. It may indeed be the time of hobbits. And the 38 hearts that hold this centre. Singing How Then Shall I Live by Linnea Good. A final clap, lunch, goodbyes and see you agains. Kleco! Kleco! to Caitlin, Teresa, Chris and Tenneson, the land of Rivendell and the 38 souls who co-created a rich and lovely experience.
Peek at my photos here.