Starting our Walking Journey

Dear Gardeners, and Friends of the Gardeners,

How are you all doing?

As we are about to enter the winter season in the northern hemisphere, it appears that new activity is about to sprout – an undercurrent of weeding and seeding that will bear fruits in the spring of our lives.

Several of us gathered virtually this past Saturday and decided to start “walking” – start walking the Presence Process, a guided journey into self initiated by Michael Brown.

http://tiny.cc/q8lAh for a link to Amazon


It will take us eleven weeks –or eleven chapters of the book– to walk this process and we have formed groups of 2-3 walkers to make this process more intimate and easier to manage, from a logistical perspective.

Although it is up to each group to decide about their meeting patterns, it is very likely that each of them will gather once a week to reflect and share on what happened during that specific time.

Please feel free to join one of these groups; now would be a good time as most of us are planning to start walking on Sunday, December 21, which is the winter solstice.

Should you want to commence the journey at a later date, feel free to contact us and we will put you in touch with others who might be interested.

Wishing you a very nourishing winter season, and a beautiful 2009 filled with wonder and peace!


Gilles & Lenore

The Presence Process - Invitation to Walk!

Sent November 14, 2008

Dear Gardeners, Friends and Friends of the Gardeners,

This is Gilles writing from the Garden State, with a unique kind of “gardening offer” today.

During the course of a recent Art of Hosting gathering, Tenneson and Teresa mentioned to me a book called The Presence Process – a book that leads us into a Healing Journey into Present Moment Awareness.

I bought the book upon my return and what I discovered in the first few pages made me want to enter this rejuvenating process, which takes eleven weeks to complete.

While talking to Lenore, I found out that she already bought the book, but didn’t have a chance to start walking the process.

We would like to “start walking together” early December, meaning that we would connect periodically to discuss our progress and struggles along this self-exploratory path.

We would like to invite each and every one of you to join us.

Please find attached a short excerpt of the book, which defines ‘present moment awareness.’ As well as a link to amazon.com where you will find additional comments.

http://tiny.cc/q8lAh

Depending on the number of ‘walkers,’ we will decide how to get together.

Happy Gardening!


Gilles & Lenore

Gardeners of Peace phone council 28 September 2008

Present: Judy Wallace, Jackie Wasilewski, Gilles Asselin, Jennifer Jones

Judy: Equinox last Monday - now entering fall. Flowers now starting to fade. Seems imperfect - holding space for cycles and their imperfect beauty.

Moments of silence

Question: As you join this circle today, what are you noticing about cycles in your life, in your garden, and in your inner garden?

Gilles: Funny anecdote about animals visiting the garden. Groundhog visiting, resting under the shed in the neighbor’s garden. We visited Longwood Gardens, 30 miles south of Philadelphia. The gardener at the Gardens told us that groundhog is worse animal for gardens as he eats everything. Groundhog inside our vegetable garden the other day, holding a tomato in his mouth. Interesting coincidence as person from Longwood Gardens had mentioned groundhogs. Cycles of the seasons here are pretty regular. Indian summers. Inner gardening is more of a spiral for me - an unfolding.

Jackie: Issue of cycles - transition from Japan to New Mexico - and also retiring - now post-professional life. Entering the fall of my life. My fall garden in NM has its own spectacular beauty. We've had more rain here than usual and so the blooming of the late summer flowers has been spectacular. High elevation here - snow in wintertime - high desert. Flowers in the desert don't come on a regular basis. Dormancy. Decrease of the life force. Idea of imperfect cycles - is there such a thing as an imperfect cycle? Christianity has tried to eradicate death - which is part of life. Navaho weavers - always make a mistake - so that the creator doesn't get caught in their own creation. Perfection is somehow static. Gardening - you have to cope with constant change. Inuit have always lived on the ice - which changes - similar to plate tectonics in geology - whereas on ice - these changes repeat themselves every year and there's a process of constant change. Field beyond wrong doing and right doing. Book about forgiveness - the giving up of all possibility of an alternative PAST.

Jennifer: Spring Equinox, and full moon. Now new moon tomorrow and fall Equinox.
Interesting time for me. Axladitsa in Greece. co-hosing Pioneers of Change 10th anniversary gathering. 5 hours drive from Athens. Teaching sound and voice tomorrow. Conscious of chest infection. Changes going on around me to do with my own path and cycles. Everything called into question for me. Teaching others how to breathe and make sounds and my own - I am having trouble with. Hope my voice will hold up. The Field - Rumi - myself and questioning. Shock that other people see me differently than I see myself. Shock that I have seen myself. Not very positive about myself. Cycles. Autumn - preparing for winter, everything dying down, readying for the hibernation period. I am winding down and hoping I will come out before spring. Pagan calendar - Equinox the middle of fall. Nov. is the first of winter.

Judy: Appreciation of such a rich garden as our beginning. Groundhog digs up the garden - nature - how we're all in this dance together. Not always appreciating one another. I noticed moving into the fall inside me - going inside more than usual. That's also the cycle of the earth - the phases of the seasons and the transition from the light and the brilliance, as we move deep into the dark and fertile place of the womb - see what we will recreate - it's the dying of the old. I see a larger system dying - in our dying throes - and we don't quite see how that will happen. Something is shifting on a very large scale. Nature is always changing - I think what caused me to put the Rumi quote in, I feel that we are meeting in a “field” - we come together to create together, to create a new way of coming and being together - of speaking and holding space - the “field” is beyond all of that. A place of beauty in all of its messiness and imperfection. A lot brewing inside. It brings me to a place of reflection as to how I want to be present for this call.

Jackie: 10,000 thoughts - idea of creating a place of beauty - in my time in Japan there was a philosophy professor - Scottish - and his family had been engaged in spiritual practice in Scotland SINCE CELTIC TIMES. The centre of philosophical activity IN THE WEST HAS BEEN EPISTEMOLOGY, OR WHAT IS TRUTH BUT in Japan it HAS been aesthetics, OR WHAT IS BEAUTY, PARTICULARLY WHAT IS A BEAUTIFUL SOCIETY, WHICH IN JAPAN MEANS A HARMONIOUS SOCIETY. Navaho in getting centred will see beauty all around. Present system which seems to be falling apart - Mayan predictions about the world falling apart - and we just don't get it. In NM when the rains don't come, it means that the people are not in harmony. It's up to us - there's an enemy but the enemy is us - it's up to us to create that place of beauty. It's a creative process.

Judy: I really resonate with that and I do think that the piece about it's up to us - how do we learn to create relationship together to solve complex problems - different ways of conducting dialogue. We work in cross-cultural work to be a bridge to bring people together. Book on Japanese philosophy - Wabi-Sabi - value imperfection - notice the opening that imperfection creates.

Jackie: In Japanese aesthetics things are not symmetrical.

Jennifer: Conscious of big changes going on. Chaos we are experiencing. Things out of control. AoH thread. Noticing where are we going. Not knowing, what can we do to create something better? Astrologically some pretty hefty stuff going on - Pluto in Capricorn for the next 10 years - death and transformation and death and money. Restructuring. Out of my control what is happening. Just allow. Noticing that we have no control.

Gilles: it's raining hard - and I'm enjoying it. I'm facing the window and looking at a tree outside the house - and the leaves are still green so it doesn't feel like fall here. But things are beginning to die. If we want to rejuvenate, we need to let old patterns die off. Fall is an important part as it allows us to welcome what comes next.

Jackie: Reminds me of a quotation BY E. L. DOCTOROW about writing a novel – IT IS LIKE DRIVING AT NIGHT with headlights - you can only see what you can see in the headlights, BUT YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH THE WHOLE JOURNEY THAT WAY.

Judy: Another question: What is the relationship of imperfection to nature, to cycles, to beauty, to life, and how do you experience that?

Jackie: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and maybe Imperfection IS too. As we're beginning to understand in the larger economic situation - WE NEED TO allow things to die. Wolves are considered to be imperfect for sheep and grazing animals. You only need to worry about a wolf when he or she is hungry. When you lose the ability to notice, maybe you're not able to contribute any more. It's like an actor - you need to know when to go offstage. We've been trying to allow everyone to stay on stage all the time and it's not balanced.

Gilles: Morning Glory - some are still open even though it's getting late for them. And the zucchini have bloomed but no zucchini fruits. White butterflies around too - something I usually only notice in the summer - things seem to be different from normal. How much are human beings responsible for these imperfections? We need to stop damaging the world.

Judy: A couple of thoughts came to me - Jackie talked about balance and things being out of balance - and Gilles talked about the amount of rain. There are also the bees which have declined badly. Some say that is why the vegetables have not produced. Being out of balance - maybe something new is emerging. Sign of Libra – trying to come into balance, equilibrium, and harmony.

Jennifer: My sense about this - certainly imperfection in the world and the things we are doing to the planet that are not good; but also something bigger than that. Hard to find the words. Planet going through some evolution - maybe it is due to our behavior - but something else. An intelligence to our planet. Feels as if something is happening - a new order emerging. Feels really definite - the weather, the bees, the zucchinis. Open to possibility that something good is emerging and old ways - death and transformation - spiritual and physical. There is a perfection that we don't recognize. We will find a way of coming through.

Judy: In all of this uncertainty and imperfection and cycles and balance or imbalance. What do we think our role is now? What is it that we might be or do or be present in this time of death and transformation?

Jackie: This speaks to the original reason to why I was interested in this group - when I first heard about this from Gilles it made me think of Voltaire and tending one's garden - in the midst of turbulence it's something you can always do. Links also to doing what needs to be done - in the space illuminated by the headlights - this also connects to Paul Hawkins' book - Blessed Unrest - he developed the first organic supermarket chain in the US. He now HAS A CATALOGUE THAT SELLS all the things you need for a sustainable life. He was saving all the business cards HE WAS GIVEN WHEN HE SPOKE IN DIFFERENT PLACES and realised THESE CARDS CONSTITUTED a network of people. OUT OF THESE HE BEGAN TO CREATE THREE WEBSITES: WISEREARTH.ORG, WISERGOVERNMENT.ORG AND WISERBUSINESS.ORG. Subtitle of book is “the biggest social movement in human history that nobody saw coming.” Change is a little dicey.

Gilles: Different ways and levels - my role, my responsibility is to evolve and I need to continue on my own path, being willing to move forward and onwards. I will meet the people I need to meet and do the things which I need to do.

Jennifer: Change is dicey. Change is the only constant. Challenging for all of us. Question of noticing change. When it begins to tear apart our lives and the planetary system. Scary for me and others. What can we be or do in this time of death and transformation? It's about staying present and conscious. Not allowing myself to be pushed around by media and telling us how to think. Believe that we will emerge in a more conscious way - slowly but we are becoming more conscious. Creating balance on the planet. Remaining present and open to what can emerge.

Judy: I really resonate to a lot of what you all said - being present to our own evolution as individuals and being present to the whole. In this time of uncertainty and chaos and not knowing what's going to happen, we probably have a capacity to be present without energising fear and panic. Putting one foot in front of the other and bringing the gifts that we have into the world - and being present in more of these circles and conversations. Energetically it makes new ripples in consciousness and maybe we can send a more present and calming effect into the field where we all live. We are probably each moving into that each day - what are my next steps, what am I meant to be now? What shows us and going there - there was a women's gathering in Boston which Meg Wheatley held - start anywhere and follow it wherever it goes. We are conscious enough that we can do that in a meaningful way - we don't necessarily know what's on the other side but it's about whatever needs to be done is called for now.

Jackie: Elderly friend of mine - Polish Jew - walked out of Poland four days after the Germans moved in - and later ended up in New York. She went to Japan 56 years later – students were asking her if she had one thing to say. “Actually life is quite simple - you make a move and either you survive or you don't. There's little to worry about.”

Judy: Closing thoughts - what themes have emerged in our collective garden?

Jackie: Incredible richness which can emerge when you create this kind of space.

Gilles: The rain has stopped. Leaves are still wet. A lot of responsibility is emerging in this call. Very healthy time - more and more people will come to that awakening. We are the ones. Much more power coming from society. Sign of hope - many of us are looking in the right direction. Many more are finally coming to terms with the idea that it's up to us to do something if we want this world to evolve in the right direction.

Jennifer: very appreciative of this space. Sacred space we create. Amazing technology allowing us to connect. Going away tomorrow – I was unsure whether to join tonight, but spellbound by the call and didn't leave early. Also believe there is great hope. There are those of us consciously moving to a better place - in relationship to one another. The “me” and the “we”. Individual and collective. Different expressions of the One. Where does the “me” end and the “we” begin? And maybe it doesn't matter.

Judy: Quite a question - I've been holding that – the “me” and “we” and consciousness which is emerging through us - we all become present and each contributes quite a bit to who we are and yet it’s a collective space - the field Rumi talks about. I don't know where the intersection of me and we is, but as long as we keep that open and as long as we continue to seek to evolve, there is hope. I so appreciate each of us being here. It's a small group but maybe we've been in a deeper place as a result.

Jackie: This has been a fantastic first participation.

Judy: Great appreciation to you all - maybe as we move forward with our lives we will carry part of this with us.

July 27 Phone Council Meeting

For me the metaphor of a garden is a powerful attraction. I have said that my physical garden -- my yard -- is not necessarily groomed well. At the same time it does represent me -- the side of me that is a little untamed, spontaneous, sprouting ideas that don't seem to fit.

When I walk past the gardens of my neighbors, I see all those same differences in their gardens. Some neat and well maintained, others a bit unkempt but interesting none the less. Some people plant wild flowers and let them grow in their own way. Others plant neat rows of hostas. All of these gardens say something about their gardeners -- about the values they possess and carry on.

When I lived in Indonesia, I studied art and culture of Bali. It struck me that in Balinese art no space is left untouched in a canvas. It is busy with images that reflect the realities of life in Bali. There is lush vegetation everywhere and people are always out and seen on the streets and in the villages. Their gardens are rice fields, forests, and orchids that bloom. In the front of their houses, offerings are made daily to the gods.

At the last meeting, I couldn’t stop thinking about our metaphor – our physical gardens, our spiritual gardens. What do those gardens look like? What do they represent about us, about our values and beliefs. We often talk about the necessity of weeding, but some gardens weeds are another gardens flowers. It seems like such a huge subject in a simple disguise.

In the above quote by Basho, the chestnut represents that which is holy in Japanese literature – so, I thought perhaps that is it. Often what we value is around us and beautiful, but we fail to notice its presence in our lives. As each of us has a different garden, with vastly different plants – so too are the differences in our values and beliefs – our spiritual path.

These are my thoughts. I hope the phone council meeting on the 22nd of June is a good one. I definitely am looking forward to the conversation that evolves.

Dancing: A universal language that connects people

Phone Council June 22nd Invitation

If you are in the garden, I will dress myself in leaves…I will present myself with all the laughters I can muster. And if you are angry I will come, calm and steady, with some small and easy story.

Mary Oliver, Rhapsody


Please join us for the June phone council of the Gardeners of Peace

Sunday, June 22, 3:30 – 5:00pm EDT
(We are meeting on the 4th Sunday of each month)

We invite the space and quiet for reflection.

Here is one question to consider for our time together:

Who is someone who taught you how to garden well, literally or metaphorically? What story might you tell that would illuminate the wisdom of his or her gifts?

Tel: (712) 432-1100 Access Code: 497860#

Please feel free to arrive 10 minutes early and join us in silence

RSVP: holly@ourellipses.com

story practice as healing/gardening

Dear Friends,

I feel deeply grateful for the abandonment stories and questions you have shared here. It is validating for me, even comforting to give voice to this part of gardening.

Michele how you have offered your and your mother's story especially (through our email chain) affected me, reading it as I prepared to go on retreat both made me feel less alone and allowed for more of those shadow questions to come out and be seen.

As I drove down through the heart of Florida, in the northeastern Atlantic side of the state, down to the southwestern coast, I think I cried about 4 of the 5 hours of the drive, in touch with a deep and much larger than personal abandonment story. It felt true to the land herself, to the old cultures of Florida, to these strange and beautiful migrations in body and or in spirit we make in trying to connect with each other.

It is an interesting place I find myself lately. Asking for our abandonment stories to come out, to be seen, not so much so that we may wallow in our wounds and salve each other with surface compassions, but so that the secretness or the perception of isolation of these stories can meet the light, can meet each other's.

Perhaps that is what has pained me when I visit that little abandoned garden and like places, not that the abandonment has happened to whatever degree, but more that the story was is not being tended to? I don't know what to do sometimes with what I kinesthetically 'hear.' And I do believe that hearing such stories together releases something powerful of the pattern....

As I continue to ponder Gilles' and Terry's new questions -- "How do we beautify and nurture ourselves?" and "Do we have to abandon what contaminates our lives...?" -- both today are bringing me back to the healing work of storytelling and storycatching (as Christina Baldwin names it).

Listening and gently questioning the stories we tell ourselves in our inner gardening (I am not financially secure; I will be abandoned) as well as those we share and cultivate outwardly seems a critical stepping stone for our own paths and the paths in which we work to come together on.

Perhaps that is at the core of what I appreciate about the simplicity of our virtual circle calls for that reason.

I would say to Terry's question that stories of what contaminates our lives can be a great lever for not abandoning what contaminates us by inviting that shadow or toxin to be seen, heard, and come to be loved different, and this yet allows for new creation to emerge more intentionally....and so in this way story practice is one way in which we may beautify and nurture ourselves.

My time with the Art of Hosting retreat in Tampa, of which Tenneson was a part as well, confirmed the power of this for me. In releasing some of the stories I had carried, stories of Florida violences not my own that I feared had gone un-listened to, and in hearing others' stories that paralleled or coalesced with my own curious journeying was/is healing practice.

And this practice is what I am growing into as a shape for my being and doing in the world....which is fascinating because as a 'creative writer' and 'professor' I have a good deal of training in many methodologies of this and I am delighted to be letting go of making room for these practices we and like circles are discovering!

Much gratitude,
you all will be in my thoughts next Sunday though I will not be able to join the call
With heart,
Holly

How do we beautify and nurture ourselves?

Lovely Gardeners,

How is everyone doing?

In response to Holly’s post and inquiry, I would like to make a separate entry and introduce a new theme.

Through Holly’s post, discussions I had with Lenore and Lucy, and exchange with a friend of mine in Scotland, a new theme, a new pattern of inquiry emerged in my life:

And this pattern is,

“How do we beautify and nurture ourselves?"

So that, by ripple effect, we can help others do the same – taking care of the abandoned portions of their gardens.

In terms of the tangible aspect of beautifying, my friend Maggie sent me a website link:

Guerilla Gardening

http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

This site is about people taking initiatives in their neighborhoods to ‘beautify’ a piece of land, the corner of their streets, or a park they walk through regularly. It seems to be a UK-based website but you’ll find pictures of ‘beautified gardens’ in Germany, the US and Canada – and will be amazed at the changes (they show pictures before and after the beautification).

So, then, how do we do the same in our lives? How do we beautify and nurture the garden within? This is indeed a beautiful ‘gardening inquiry.’

I don’t have any straight answer but can certainly share my own experience, having evolved and grown in a fairly hierarchical (religious) organization where I donated a good amount of time and money for the past twenty years. I am somewhat detached of this organization now, although I am still pursuing the spiritual practice that came with the organization.

At times, without this firm ground (a structure that gives you answers when you need them – you go for guidance with ‘seniors’ whenever you need it), I feel a bit like walking in water, not really knowing where the bottom is. And I am in a state of inquiry about what will come out of this new phase, out of this muddy water, a bit unsettled as I am. But aren’t we all looking for some sort, or some amount, of certainty in our lives?

Abandonment comes and goes in many ways, in many forms. One way I can relate to abandonment is through my fear of “not having enough money.” Will I become abandoned if I don’t have money? It was -and still is- huge in my mother, to the point that she never borrowed any money, and will never do. Her savings account is her psychological security blanket. In some ways, it also serves as the mother she lost 26 years ago.

I have been aware of that same fear in me for a long time and have worked on it, successfully, through my spiritual practice, to the point that I am now learning about the opposite challenge: non-possession, and how one “cleanses herself/himself” through non-possession.

Non-possession sounds like a weird idea in the world in which we live today, where many “have made the modern materialistic craze their goal.” (in Gandhi’s words).

A few paragraphs of Gandhi’s speeches have caught my attention lately (in the Chapter: The Gospel of Non-Possession).

“It is open to the world to laugh at my dispossessing myself of all property. For me, dispossession has been a positive gain. I would like people to compete with me in my contentment. It is the richest treasure I own. Hence it is perhaps right to say that, though I preach poverty, I am a rich man!”

“Civilization, in the real sense of the term, consists not in the multiplication, but in the deliberate and voluntary reduction of wants. This alone promotes real happiness and contentment, and increases the capacity for service.”

“The highest fulfillment of religion requires a giving up of all possession. Having ascertained the law of our being, we must set about reducing it to practice to the extent of our capacity and no further. That is the middle way.”

“Everyone has a right and should desire to live 125 years while performing service without an eye on result. Such life must be wholly and solely dedicated to service. Renunciation made for the sake of such service in an ineffable joy of which none can deprive one, because that nectar springs from within and sustains life. In this, there is no room for worry or impatience.”

Where does all of this take me in terms of beautifying my own garden? Honestly, I don’t know, and this is a bit of my gardening path that I wanted to share with you today on Mothers’ Day; a day of nurturance, beauty and appreciation.

The only thing I know for sure, is that there is a cosmic pattern in the way we garden ourselves, meaning that these ‘abandonment’ occurrences and this ‘beautifying’ theme did not magically coalesce into my consciousness today to create what I am writing. They were meant to happen and there are here for a reason.

Could this reason be our own evolution – our evolution as a species?

Love from the Garden Sate!

Gilles

abandoned garden

Below are images of an abandoned garden I have been walking to of late. The old Florida mid-rise in the background is where I live. I walk through the neighborhood on my side of the river, cross a drawbridge (just to the left of the photograph frame) and through the neighborhood on the opposite bank to an open lot whose former house has been leveled.

Walking there has been emotional on many days; sitting in a space not my own and untended has allowed a lot of shadow and even pain to emerge in me. This has resonance to some of what has been surfacing that I have not voiced on our calls and in receiving the invitations sometimes.

I want to share with the group some of that experience, and know I will benefit from like-minded 'gardeners' on this process; yet I thought first, instead of just hurling out my story, MY etc., I would like to hear your thoughts and reactions to viewing these images.

(My apologies for the over-exposure in the middle image; my Photoshop program has been corrupted somehow and I am awaiting a replacement version.)

What do you see?

What do you sense in this place?

Does it activate a desire?

How do you imagine you would feel standing there by the river in the brick frame, on the sandy Florida soil, between the loose weeds, in the sun?




abandoned garden along Ortega River, a large tributary off the St. Johns River, one of the few rivers that travels south-north

Phone Council Podcast - March 30, 2008

Please click here to listen to the March 30 Phone Council podcast.

If you have any difficulty downloading the file, right-click on "here" and select "save link as..."

Many thanks to everyone who participated and to those of you who made this podcast possible.

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring to all of you Gardeners - in the northern hemisphere!

This is indeed a very meaningful time of the year; a time full of promises and potential for creation.

As Judy said the other day, "the seeds of peace are awakening."

Happy gardening!


Gilles

Gardeners February 17 phone council harvest

Opened 10 minutes early for silence
Piano music of Michael Jones – Touch – in the background

Gardeners:

Tenneson
Holly
Lenore
Judy
Junahli
Sheri
Laurel
Elizabeth
Gilles

Introduction Ten with Meg Wheatley quote:
“Who we are together is always different and more than who we are alone.”

Reading Jan 13 phone council quote:

“Human beings need and want to be in authentic connection with each other. It helps all of us to respond to the challenges and opportunities of our times – in self, team, community, and society.”

Purpose of Gardeners
Seeds of peace planted deeply in the heart – in everyone’s heart.
Mentioned letter from Gardener the night before + Gilles’ response
Acknowledged Terry from Paris and Peter from Sydney

Introduction: Candle, talking piece (bracelet of wooden beads from many circles) and some guidelines for speaking on the call
-listen with attention
-speak with intention
-tend to the well-being of the group

Planning of the council:
-15 minute check-in: What gardening is alive in you?
- 30-45 minutes: pop corn questions (3 questions from the invitation) and what’s next
-10 minutes: closing space

Guardian: Explains her role as the guardian to be in this virtual room, to notice the natural shifts, to ring the pottery bell.

Check-in: What gardening is alive in you?

Inner gardening practice alive on a sunny afternoon in Utah viewing through the window the snow-covered school yard
Religious practice of the family – energy was off
My daughter left behind that morning on the way to church – but it is a walkable distance
Need to reground today after experiencing some scattered energy
Walked around the house with bells, put Michael’s music on and sat on the floor
Shift of energy, from grumpy to more harmonious - “I am ready to listen” space.
Easy to get lost in ‘bad’ energy – simple breathing and steps that reground, shift the pattern, reach emptiness and openness

First time on the call - exceptional place today: yoga in the morning and massage in the afternoon, feels spoiled
Anticipation re continuation of the day: “I have a body”
Gardening – body centered. Bring from within to without.
Spread from self to trickle outwards.
Gardeners’ concept: small and large ways for ourselves and others
Job – few gardeners in the area: my job is art and healing practice
Offer the earth, painter, educator – focus into that practice
Group connections and tendrils around the globe are important – all attached with gardening
As the blossom popping up out of the pavement, how do we continue to find the soil?

Relate to the metaphor: “Blossoming out of the pavement”
Living in Florida, 3rd floor balcony apartment
Creek below, river, low tide, mud and even smell
Gardening: grieving other people’s sediments. Is this a healthy practice?
I have not dealt with sediments, and I wonder
Feel in tune with these layers of mud that have been left around.
Coming into that place – not only me – my space
Listen and not get stuck in the mud

In Burlington, Ontario
At my desk; freezing rain
15 morning doves outside: sense of the feminine, eternity, peace
Monday – family day – holiday in Canada
Am on my own today, getting a breather from one another
Attracted to the call. I feel more like myself in community.
Our garden – women’s leadership circle.
Building on Christina and Meg’s authenticity and richness of conversation.
Gardening very alive in me.
What am I going to get out of this council?
Feel more like myself – this type of community, even a virtual community
Love the talking piece – tool; it’s enormous, allows you to speak from the heart

Will I think of what to say or allow the flow to carry me?
Found it in the previous contribution.
Where I want to go (in my life) – sense of direction
Body of water near me – tide ½ way up; lots of ducks
Alive in me: desire for human connection, authenticity
Words can mean so much
Went to the Shambhala Institute (Halifax) 3 years ago (July 05) and enjoyed the rich diversity of the Global Village Square – 80 people all together, maybe 3-4 US Americans
Felt lonely back home – didn’t want to leave the room
Opened a portal, inner calling to look within and then to connect with those around the world to bring meaning and hope to others. Not something we do alone.
Zig zag path: never losing sight of my inner calling

More Check-ins Limit to one minute (Ten instruction)

In Santa Fe
Wonderful morning. Intense times.
Buddha Belly plant – seed pods bursting, 1 pod each night. Germinate during the day.
Friend from Madagascar – gave me the plant for my birthday
Waiting for the right moment to germinate – it is growing
Today is the right day – germination – turn around
Inner gardening inspiration – risk – circles - new ventures – I have my own

Gardening alive in me – part of who I am – sense of Collective Self
Emergence: reconnection to the sacred
Exploring the sacred feminine and wholeness of knowing
Interested in astrology – exploring that part of my inner garden again

Not well for the past 10 days.
Something is alive in my body. Is there a message that I need to listen to?
Much travel – Asia, France for the past two months
Now home and need to slow down
I am listening to that message

In New York city
Gardening and nurturing go together
Peace is nurturing me and I am nurturing peace – sense of mutual relationships – needs to nurture it

Essence of the conversation – looking into the questions from the invitation and also what’s next

What comes into the room – energy
Extension of stories shared so far; lots of beauty in sharing stories

What is possible with the Gardeners?
What wants to be born?
What are the connections with others? With other groups?
Why not another group?
What shape might want to be born here?
What is your thinking, what are your desires?

Need to back up
First time phone council for me
Am curious
- who wants to be with this community?
- people who are working / gardening?
I want to be with like-spirited people where inner gardening is a priority
Am not sure others can’t connect as well
True for others who are also first timers on the call
Community of people who have like-minded hearts
See where that thread goes

Is it about being or doing?
Idea of a circle, virtual circle – sitting around together – it’s about ‘being’
Then perhaps we each are active locally
With this group, hear the bell, check into the group’s energy.
Check in with other groups for local activities in Santa Fe
Gardening activities have a ‘being’ part and a face-to-face part
Maybe I could express inner and outer gardening with the green sustainable school garden.

I am noticing how my body feels being here.
My body feels different when my family goes to church – feel that maybe I should be with them. Feels so obligatory
I want to feel a different spirit this morning
Different kind of breathing, inner peace, inner gardening. It feels great.
Church transition story for me – inner peace
Gardeners of Peace: it is about a call, an energy that you are invited to, know it is there.
In person gathering: January was too early so shifted into phone council format.
Need to listen to people’s feelings and words
In the now / value – “where you are”

Obliged to go to church as a child (grew up in Ohio)
Looking forward to this call – to coming together
It feels a bit like going to church, a new form of church
Respectful ways of listening – of communicating
Deep questions for reflect on – this is the ‘being’ part
Exploration together
Would value the opportunity to get together and
Also value the very present and silent space of these calls.

Yoga as worship – substitute for church
Thought for this group: phone call
Image of beads and phone call – can join from anywhere
Different ways to start the germination / seeds
Scatter and see which land or plant correctly with many in one place. Graft one strong plant to another existing plant.
We can plant in a different number of holes – same intention in different places
Each gardener has different skills
Would like to see the group stay expansive

Seed in a pot this morning – needs the right conditions
No demand that we show up the same way
We show up the way we are – abundant blessings, gifts
Stay open, not judge it to be this or that
Fertilizer
Spaciousness in our lives, both being and doing
Landscaping work too

How do people relate to church, if not Christian? – do we have any non-Christians here?

Yes, Jewish

Yes, Buddhist

This reminds me of the Buddhist concept of human revolution – revolutionizing oneself from within
Want to talk about Being and Doing
Being: Tending self and earth as gardens

Read from previous invitation:
“Human beings need and want to be in authentic connection with each other.
It helps all of us to respond to the challenges and opportunities of our times – in self, team, community, and society.”

We need to be in “authentic connection” with our selves as well
To come into connection with others means to be in connection with oneself
Experience searching the Hollyhock website – trying to find out about a workshop
Christina Baldwin circle practicum (first possibility)
Also Donald Walsh and Conversations with God (second possibility)
Then Maria and Sarah and community in Greece – Axladitsa (yet another possibility)
I finally realized that I kept looking outside (for a workshop of some sort), not realizing the answers are within
Talk to others and then tend my own garden.
Balance connection with others and connection to self
Doing – getting together still a possibility
Sufi retreat center in New York state (in New Lebanon)
Also could come together locally and harvest locally and then share with larger group.
There are several people in Mass. and several in New Jersey.
See what seeds germinate

What’s next? What is being created?

We are different people in different ways
I need to understand what the Gardeners are before thinking about what is next.
Do I want to do this? This is when I feel most myself.
This is what church could be.
That is what people are connecting to.
Sacred space, sanctuary, people aren’t going to find that elsewhere.
Connection to the “sacred space” – outer vs. inner
Is it a new expression of what ‘church wants to be’?

What is it? What is next?
Typical questions I find in circles.
Culture-bound Western reaction: we are ‘doing’ beings
We need action, activity
Is it doing or being? I can’t decide?

Being – doing
Sensing a new way of being active, of being alive
Holding space / grace into the circle, the silence, stillness, presence
Still feel very active, very alive
Learning to be active in a different, new way
Would like to do these kinds of conversations / calls more

What wants to be next is more of this
Space where people feel nurtured, appreciated, can be anywhere
Spiritual church
A way of coming in and out of space / place
Ducks coming and going – similar ways of coming in and out of ourselves
Part of the beauty of what it is

One of the questions in the invitation has a “what’s next?” feel.
I feel myself clamp up a bit.
Need meaning, this circle is a practice in the ‘now’
I like the question of what it means to ‘do’ or to ‘be.’
Delighted by the call. Not too much in my head
There are people I know / people I don’t know
I like what I hear and how I am feeling.
Very much feeling the joy of the moment of ‘now’
Shift in pattern in my own body.
Meg Wheatley’s quote:
“Who we are together is always different and more than who we are alone.”
At energetic level and doing level, sensing energetics.
What are the outcomes? Deliberate outcomes?
Energy of friendship, of being together, of what’s in the middle is the strongest takeaway.
Periodic calls to drop into.
Come back with some good questions.

Metaphor of pearl divers
Usually in pairs, rope around the waist, one counts breaths, the other searches for the treasure.
Rope connection gives trust.
Opportunities when we explore together.
Know someone else is there.
Explore, take turns.
On the call we can be there for each other.

Definition of Gardeners?
Are we struggling to define who we are – it’s elusive
Open space that is evolving
“What’s next?” is maybe “What’s now?”

Closing Space

What’s now? Any voice, any image coming to mind?

Image of the ground in winter
The soil, we can’t see what’s alive in there,
But we hope vegetables will grow down the road.
What’s now? Keep nurturing, keep nurturing

Ducks in their school together
Together – in and out, up and down.
Now – continue collectively, in and out

Can we use peace as a verb? Can you please peace?

Happy to join
Feeling of peace

Feeling stretched – piece of glass
Graft – raw edge not fully connected
Feeling in touch, connected

Yearning – yearning for authentic connection
Peace – peace is a way to respond to the yearning for authentic connection

Here / now: two cats purring and cleaning one another.
Picture for peace – connection

Holds the beads
I have a sense of appreciation for having learned and felt a lot, for being at peace.
I have a sense of welcoming the next part in the day and to share some of this with the gang.

Sacred space – grateful – Presence

Closed with silence and Michael Jones piano

Harvest -- January 13, 2008 Conference Call

February 1, 2008
As harvested by Lenore. See below. Or download at: http://www.box.net/shared/a6d7bzq4gw

Harvesting Notes –
Gardeners of Peace Phone Council –
01.13.08


“How can we tap into the collective power of our hearts and become aware of our ‘real’ place in the world?”

“Whether you tend a garden or not, you are the gardener of your own being, the seed of your own destiny.”



The council was opened with a check in as to what brought people to the call and GoP:

- I am attracted to, in a simple way, the connection to the heart and soul
- Quote from Marcel Proust: “If a little dreaming is dangerous, then the cure is to dream more.”
- Dare to dream a little- wondered how this process would work out as we are usually problem solving groups. What else could the world be? What else is possible for us?
- I came to the call through a friend. I am a landscape architect, theatre before that. I help people create landscapes – am very spiritual. We are all changed by our conversations. I am familiar with circle work. The Native Americans (here in Southwest) use the talking piece as a ‘listening piece’- The speaker is being listened aloud.
- I am pleased to be on this call; am an Art of Hosting practitioner, interested in the power of place, and ‘breathing’ places.
- Congratulations (to GoP) for what you are doing. I am impressed by what you are doing to help others gather. What really made me think I would like to join is how positive you are- and how you hope for a positive world. In Rwanda, where I come from, this is lacking. It is vital to be with people who are positive. Important experiences in my life and heart have been when someone has told me that I helped inspire them- because I told her that we all have a mission in life and a reason we are here.
- Consistent theme in my life has been to listen with each other- the collective process/co-creation, where the unimaginable can come together. The edge- of not knowing. What will happen when we speak- this an edge for me. The garden is about seeds and flourishing; to dream together the most imaginable. I want to join more and more groups like this to participate in this collective process- that is emerging through us.
- When I received the invitation I was drawn to the call and message. I am not a gardener, but spiritual and want to create more peace in myself and in the worlds. Trying to get touch with my higher self and spiritual self. It’s always good to be with other positive people to help me/us hold the vision. The last few years I have been drawn from working with technology to working with people who are spiritual, healers, life coaching- still trying to get my mission in life and am getting there. I think this group will help me move forward.
- Thank you for inviting me to this collective group- a pleasure to listen and learn and to help.
- It’s great to be here- I agree with what has been spoken thus far. To be honest, one of my main interests is with a group I am involved with- Spiritual Progressives. There seems to be a lot of connection between the 2 groups. The interest is in dialoging about peace in the world. Drawn to our values, compassion, seeing the sacred in everyone on the planet. If you start with these values as opposed to political stands that can be divisive, you can share more with others- with their values. Spiritual progressives are helping me to develop my own inner energy (www.spiritualprogressives.org).
- I joined late and heard the last 4 speakers; I am drawn to the GoP (Gardeners of Peace) because I am in an important transition in my life after years of working without an inner sense of peace. I want to understand how I can contribute to the exchange here.
- I have been on a spiritual path – a meaningful one. I would like to share a story: I traveled to Singapore a few weeks ago. On the flights out and back, we had similar experiences related to rules and authority. This is not a coincidence as I have been trying to “fight” rules and authority in my life. The airport security in Tokyo would not allow us to bring duty free liquor bought in Newark, NJ (bringing to family in the east). Although we talked to them (security), they said there was nothing they could do. My wife even talked to the boss - who thanked her for her ‘understanding’ and then kept the bottle. We experienced ‘facing a wall’. On the way back, transiting in Beijing, we were late (sort of) in checking back in and found that our seats had been given away. We were seated very far apart (after having had reservations- and traveling a long distance). The person at the checkout counter was Chinese and my wife spoke with her. She wouldn’t hear her about our being late. It made me think about how rules are directing our lives and as such, I see the Gardeners able to co-create their own organic (non-rule abiding) structure- to me, this experience reflects on how much progress the world needs to make to listen to itself - not just blindly listening to a so-called ‘higher authority.’

The question was spoken about the ‘power of our collective hearts’:

-When we move into our hearts we are more in a dreaming place- we can move into a deeper place- we don’t’ know what will happen but that is part of the collective power of our hearts.
- I had no idea what to expect when I came to this call- everyone who has spoken has added some richness for me. The question of our collective hearts- if others can be as open as those on this call- it’s a beginning. It begins with love and eventually pours in and out of the group. I dream of this as a way of life for everyone- the fertilization of our soul- we are not centered- we are disconnected. I am not sure what I can contribute but something will come to me – and add richness to my soul and to this.
- I have had a lot living in me from my last week’s hosting experience. When I began to work with the group (educational admistrators), I began to talk about the open heart and moving into the open heart. The hosting team wanted to go into this space, not afraid. But they worried that their 20-30 colleagues would say this is ‘soft and flaky’. They warned us to be careful- “people are not going to go for this”. Over the next few days, the open heartedness expanded. The simple question was asked: “What is the passion and heart that brought people into the room?” This created space for engagement- the pace can work with them and work with us. At the end of the time, people were in tears- expressions of shock that they would be so open hearted after so long of not doing this. Sometimes it’s the very simple things that have impact.
- I can see why my friend referred me to this group- I hear the story ‘what is the thread that you carry no matter what you do?’ And what are the seeds? Seeds have seed coats- the shedding of the coat is an ‘aggressive’ process- it experiences fire, ice, and then shed. When we are working at our own lives, and reach something difficult. It’s not just opening our hearts to other people- if you were to think about a seed or a thread- what is the thread that you carry?
- Thoughts about the ‘collective’ come to me. I think about the earth ripples – not just the people on the call, but more ripples- the more we are opening our hearts- the more others will. Gardeners of Peace appear to me today as a community to ‘be’ rather than a group to ‘do’ (the GoP). It’s a question of the world- being a garden in the world.
- What came to my mind regarding collective power of our hearts – was the most connected I feel to others is when I am intentional. I have done Reiki- and I can send something into this group- what I heard in the beginning was that everyone is at a different place of wanting to transform. Reiki helps others transform into what other ways they would like to be. Sending Reiki – is power from the heart.
- The GoP – are about ‘being’ not ‘doing’. It is a container, a vessel, not rigid, but porous.
- The last few speakers have talked about ‘being’ in our individual and collective capacities. At first I thought “that’s not very much”- but then I realize it is a big deal. “We need to be the peace we want to see in the world.”
- I would like to ask the question: - (Gilles): We would like to get together every month for a phone council. We would like to get together in person in the Spring. Is this of interest to everyone?
- I feel good energy about coming to a monthly meeting. I have a commitment in March, not sure where I will be- but will be open to this.
- It would be great to meet once a month. The in-person meeting would be great, but not sure able to do it- but will do the call.
- I would welcome a call at least once or twice a month – to build the field between us and among us and face to face would be great to plan so that as many people as possible could come.
- A monthly call would be great- and if possible hold a local face to face gathering for those able to come.
- We have expanded the potential here.
- I continue to carry strong feelings of what the purpose of such a gathering would be- relationship building? I’d like to call in the energetic purpose and possibility.

As we close here- a last breath – if you could share one word:
- Beauty
- Momentum
- Gratitude for the space of dreams
- Breathe- if you inhale and exhale there is space in between
- Appreciation for fellow Gardeners
- Positive intention
- Gratitude and inspiration
- Peace we want to be in the world
- Joy

Gilles- in closing: I would like to share a quote from the Findhorn community in Scotland:

“Whether you tend a garden or not, you are the gardener of your own being, the seed of your own destiny.”