- Such a clean, clearing, steady wind this morning drying everything and freshening the tops of the firs. Not a wren to be seen! #
- Gomes manages to play goal like a bumblebee manages to fly: it violates the laws of physics but it seems to work. #coys #
- Bowen Islanders…make a NewYears resolution to learn some of the local Skw language: http://bit.ly/hGCVAJ @squamishlang #
- After screen of storms with wind and rain it would be fair to say that the morning appears "relaxed." #
- Winter morning http://post.ly/1OrT9 #
- Another calm carnelian colored dawn http://yfrog.com/h0f63dnj #
I continue to learn about the effect of the feminine. Today I was walking with friends by Bridal Falls on Bowen Island where I live and we stopped at the waterfall to reflect on the nature of flow. This standing wave caught our attention and it immediately drew me into thoughts on the complementarity of the masculine and feminine.
For a long time I have been a student of the Tao, understanding the relationship between yang and yin. In Taoist thought, these two conditions exist in everything and are in constant and dynamic relationship. Yang is usually thought of as raw force, flow, life or energy, and yin is idenitfied with receptivity, structure, container. The two are also associated with masculine and feminine but not in a gender way, more in an archetypal fashion.
This video illustrates the power of having these two forces acheive some kind of balanace. You have the strong yang of the water flowing over the strong yin of the rock and it is shaped by what it is flowing over. We are looking at a remarkable thing here: a stable structure in which every element of its composition is changing in every minute. This flow structure perfectly illustrates what happens when yin and yang meet in balance, when the strong masculine is shaped by the contours of the feminine. We are seeing the effect of the feminine on the masculine, but we are looking at a structure that would not exist without a balance between the two.
Think about this in terms of organizations. We are surrounded in our social world by these kinds of flow structures, in which elements move through but the structure remains. Traffic jams, cities, organizations, schools…Notice that the stability in these structures comes not from what is flowing though them – not the people – but by the underlying architecture that shapes people’s behaviour in those moments. The flow of bodies and behaviours is influenced by the yin of the structure.
This is one way the feminine works with power: by being the channel though which power works, influencing it’s outcome. People who seek power with a strictly masculine perspective go for the flow itself: control of the money, people, water, oil. People who seek to stabilize the effect of power know that the contours of the flow channels influence everything, so they run banks and financial systems, management consulting firms, hydro power projects and fossil fuel economics respectively.
- Cold rain down low, cold snow up high, cold yellow sun in a cold grey sky. #
- Just returned from a lovely memorial for my colleague John McBride. Plenty of music and great stories enjoyed by 200 good folks. Sweet life. #
- Purple sunrise and a string Squamish this morning could mean snow later today. #
- Video of today's howling Squamish. http://www.flickr.com/photos/31354844@N00/5277832927 #
- The shortest day dawns. This long waning ends. An obscured fullness arises. Two weeks to reflect and then surge towards light. Celebrate!!! #
- The rush of wind in the trees
Is the fear I cannot reach
It flows above me
And all around me. # - And the rain
Brings it down. # - Our little house was lashed all night by easterly gales and buckets of rain. What a storm! #
- The crazy winds of Howe Sound and the Strait of Georgia. SE gales and N outflows. http://yfrog.com/h0axeqvj #
- Uplifting…in a couple of ways: http://bit.ly/hlNF93 #
- http://yfrog.com/h25idwrj Christmas morning dawns calm and full of mist. Heading to the continent for supper. #
On setting the physical container for good collaboration:
In the 1960s, Timothy Leary coined the term “set and setting” referring to a context that influenced the outcomes of psychoactive and psychedelic drug experiments on his subjects. “Set” refers to ones mindset, “setting” refers to the environment in which the user has the experience. Now Im not necessarily suggesting that you administer psychoactive drugs to your participants, though Im sure that would make your job a whole lot more interesting. What I am suggesting is that “set and setting” play a significant, and often overlooked role, in your work as a trainer, facilitator, or group leader.
via The Center for Graphic Facilitation: FacilitatorU: Set and Setting.
Back in November, I worked with my mate Teresa Posakony on a two day gathering the object of which was to work to apply brain science to policy questions on the prevention of adverse childhood experiences. On the first day I facilitated an Open Space event that brought together reserachers and brain scientists to discuss their findings and on the second day, we had panelists and Teresa ran a half day cafe to look at the implications of the research for policy making. I composed a poem at the end of the day.
As a part of the experience, we were shown a powerful video of the still face experiment, a test to see how infants respond when their care givers break the connection with them. It is very very powerful. Here it is:
Later in the day one of the panelists, Jennifer Rodriguez, referred to this video by saying that collectively, “society is the still face” when it comes to our children and youth.
That was the hook I needed for the poem, which was also informed by the words I saw and heard during the cafe. I read the poem and got a generous standing ovation.
Today I got an email from our clients which was sent by the researcher you see in the video, Dr. Ed. Tronick. Dr. Tronick was responding to our client, who sent him the poem and the recording of me reading it:
I really am quite moved by the poem and your comment about how much impact it has. When I began this work in my lab I had no idea that it might one day be so useful in getting children and families what they so desperately need. I love the poem – I will get it up in my office somewhere, especially what it brings together and the rhythm of it. Please tell Chris how much I appreciate it. It is just amazing. And more important than the SF or the poem is the work you and everyone at the conference are doing.
It is not enough to do work in the world without adding as much beauty as we can. The power resides in the songs, the poems, the images that we use to capture our collective experiences and to throw a light on how important they are to us as human beings.
Enjoy the harvest.