Hosting Conversations about Questions that Matter
For me, the heartfelt experience of the European Salon is the ongoing, co-evolving story of life. In the rich fullness of life’s diverse nature, I see the spaces opening up to invite meaning, discovery, connection, pain, uncertainty and love.
I experienced and contributed to a process of exceptional courage, shared leadership, deep dialogue and creative design. Surprise, engagement and connection were equally present as part of the intense exchange of ideas, compassion and contact.
And in the midst of all this, a three legged cat who had the uncanny ability to repeatedly find the centre of our group and, once there, to exude peacefullness and calm in a way that only creatures can.
The European Salon included insightful acts of designated and spontaneous leadership. Creating and holding space, stepping back and inviting others to fill this space with their emerging abundance. The effect was truely startling and a revelation of how leadership can facilitate and invite empowerment and strength in individuals and groups.
Truely, I experienced moments of uncertainty, disconnection and disturbance. And in other circumstances, this might have been the end of the meeting for me. But the shared trust in the people and the design as well as the joy of being part of this amazing gathering helped me over the tough moments.
And looking back, the difficulties were also times of wonder and discovery.
I am deeply grateful for the experience and thankful to all who made this possible (including myself as participant and hosting team member).
Please add your story, if you wish!
Hanno
I experienced and contributed to a process of exceptional courage, shared leadership, deep dialogue and creative design. Surprise, engagement and connection were equally present as part of the intense exchange of ideas, compassion and contact.
And in the midst of all this, a three legged cat who had the uncanny ability to repeatedly find the centre of our group and, once there, to exude peacefullness and calm in a way that only creatures can.
The European Salon included insightful acts of designated and spontaneous leadership. Creating and holding space, stepping back and inviting others to fill this space with their emerging abundance. The effect was truely startling and a revelation of how leadership can facilitate and invite empowerment and strength in individuals and groups.
Truely, I experienced moments of uncertainty, disconnection and disturbance. And in other circumstances, this might have been the end of the meeting for me. But the shared trust in the people and the design as well as the joy of being part of this amazing gathering helped me over the tough moments.
And looking back, the difficulties were also times of wonder and discovery.
I am deeply grateful for the experience and thankful to all who made this possible (including myself as participant and hosting team member).
Please add your story, if you wish!
Hanno
Tags: Egensbach, 2nd European Salon, European, Salon, Stories
Replies to This Conversation
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Permalink Reply by Ulrich Soeder on -
Hey Viktor,
the two kids belong to me. They have been with us over the Salon weekend and took part in some of the activities. But the processes have not been especially designed to include children.
To take the kids with us was a deliberate choice. First, we knew they would be welcome. But we also thought it might be a good reminder for the big WHY? of the Salon. When we engage the future, it is about taking responsibility for our kids and grandchildren and further generations to come. We thought it might be a good idea to have them around and with us while being in the Salon.
For example, they have contributed spontaneously with their drawing in some of the graphic recordings.
In one instance, one of the teams invited the group into a kind of ritual about connecting from heart to heart – building a physical bridge with our hands from one person to the next while looking into each others eyes. In this ritual, we met everyone in the group.
Jakob decided to take part in this ritual. In the first part, he was standing on a bench so that he could be in about the same height as the grown-ups. When he had to move, the grown-ups got on their knees to meet his eyes.
I was touched very deeply to see him interacting in this way with the group. Others have been touched as well.
If you take a look at last year's Salon documentation where our children have been as well, you will see one page with their drawings. They have been in their own process, but their drawings are deeply connected to what happened in the 2009 Salon. I see this as an expression of a common energy field, so to say ...
Viktor, are you experienced in including children in these kinds of conversational processes?
Cheers, Ulrich -
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Permalink Reply by Viktor on -
No I am not Ulrich, but I believe that they are wonderful inclusion and great teachers too. I would like to experience them in setting like this.
I have a 7 months old daughter and at times when I look at her, it is as if I am standing in front of a little budda full of presence. So I do understand the presence they have.
P.S.
I am very interested in the open space processes (i call it Inquiry) and in particular I am observing how the social media could be used as a platform for a very large Global saloons.
I would like to share with all of you a blog I wrote recently:
http://coachera.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/the-role-of-social-media-i...
Comments and FB is welcomed
Viktor -
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Permalink Reply by Ilona Christl on -
Dear Hanno,
thank you so much for starting this.
I'm still very touched by what happened at our 2. Salon. Even now, two weeksafter the meeting I can still feel its effect. I have the feeling, that you (all of you) helped me becoming more effective, more capable of co-leading and co.creating. May be I have a diffrent aura, or...I can't really grasp it, but so many things were diffrent in my seminars after our meeting. All over sudden the participants brought the toopic we-I, the other as the mirror, my colleague started to support me with my effort of graphical recording (she never did it before!), that meant the two of us were drawing on one flipchart. I did bring the heart as a talking stick in the seminar, which made a change, I brought colours from Sabine, which made a change...I have the feeling that we created a learing feeld. We celebrated the marriage of Mythos and logos, we were accompanied by music, we were aware of our bodies, hearts,our ancestors, nature and spirit. Our lerning from and with each other journey helped me see things diffrenty, helped me be more connected with myself, the others and my soul. I feel energized even though I got sick one week after the Salon. It's a peacefull and calm energy. Thank you. I can hear my inner song far clearer now! and sometimes I can hear the songs of others. Looking forward to tune into each other and sing together. "Tears of joy are more precious than perles...!" "Look a friend in the eyes and see, what is.." -
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Permalink Reply by Ilona Christl on
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One reason, why this Salon was very precious to me was, that my daughter (16) a friend of hers (19) and David Isaac (72) and the whole agescale inbetween was present and participated so that I could see my daughter growing while these days and at a certain stage she, herself asked into the middle: What did you do with me? She realized, that she had changed and wasn't sur what happened. It was wonderfull to participate in the Salon with the whole family (husband and daughter) and it was a gift, that we had someone in the teens, twenties, thirties, forties, fifties sixties and seventies. Wow. Thank you!!!
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