More on letting go

Nick Smith writes a moving piece about his eldest daughter leaving home to travel the world. Amongst his reflections and advice, this stood out:

Strange isn’t it, the best of times are always when we bring the least with us, when we don’t organise or plan things but just show up with an openness and trust that somehow we’ll take care of whatever comes.

Oh, yeah.

The Open Space of blogging

Hmmmmm…I ought to blog about that.

This thought comes to my mind often – and yet I can’t seem to find the words. Today I realised that the principles of Open Space relate very well to blogging too. Blogging is becoming my personal Open Space.

Whoever comes are the right people: and I need to let go of any ego or concerns about who is reading this blog. Whoever reads it are the right people – none or many – the important thing is to bring my own passion here, take responsibility for how I express that, and let it go.

Whatever happens is the only thing that could have: is the natural consequence of letting go.

Whenever it starts is the right time: there’s a rhythm to blogging that reflects who I am – nothing for days then a great burst of activity, followed by more nothing – or time and space to gather my thoughts and reflect, ready for the next onslaught.

When it’s over, it’s over: one word or many, what’s important is to say what I need or want to say then stop. One less thing.

Oh, and what about the Law of Two Feet? Works well in cyberspace I reckon. If I’m able to learn and contribute at your site I’ll probably stay a while. If not, I’ll move on. Sounds fair. So, dear reader, if you linger, welcome; if you move on, I hope our cyber paths cross again.

Banff Haiku

Inspired by Patti Digh’s Haiku book reviews, I thought I’d try and capture the essence of the Banff Improv Conference in Haiku…

AIN gathering, again
Powerful fun and learning merge –
Opens hearts and minds.

A few random thoughts from Banff

The AIN (improv) conference in Banff was a source of many ideas and connections. Here’s just a few.

• Ecoductions – introducing yourself using place as the focus; a way to avoid the trap of defining yourself based on what you do and to revisit the way the environment shapes who we are.

• The Medici Effect – intersectional innovation: bringing together diverse perspectives to the centre. This is one of the ways the Banff Centre helps people discover their leadership potential. Practically, it means bringing art to the centre – sculpting clay, singing, movement, improv, being in the environment – as ways to discover personal truths about leadership.

• From ‘de-storyation’ to ‘re-storyation’: “Just as clear cutting of forests leads to deforrestation, our culture has also been devastated by the loss of storytelling.” (Richard Stone). Story seems to have lost some credibility over the years. Re-storyation is about rediscovering the power of story in our personal and professional lives.

• Alistair McIntyre: “I can’t answer the question what am I to do till I answer the prior question of what am I a part.” via Nick Nissley, Executive Director, Banff Centre.

• Strategic ambiguity – allows space for…anything really.

• Notice your first thought and act on your second. (Patti Digh & David Robinson) In other words, be pro-active rather than re-active. Slow down.

• Also from Patti & David: Wicked problems and tame solutions… When wicked problems are unearthed, deal with them, rather than impose a tame solution. Tame solutions provide immediate gratification but don’t effectively deal with the wicked problem which will re-emerge.

• Do one less thing – thanks to Johnnie Moore for again reminding me how powerful this can be.

The Improvised Life

Today I did a workshop with David Matthew Prior at the improv conference in Banff. He introduced us to three principles for living an ‘improvised life’:

1 – Take a chance

2 – Effort over effect

3 – Sing your self

This story from my friend Geoff Brown epitomises all of these.

… through a bit of improv I managed to reframe a very negative mindset this morning. I had Kinder duty and months ago agreed to come in and play some kiddy songs for the group. Woke this morning with a very croaky voice and unable to sing. Ingrid suggested I pull the pin but decided to “accept the offer” … “throw out the plan” … just do something.

At 11am Sue (Kinder Teacher) assembled the mob of 4 year olds on the mat and introduced me with my guitar. I said “Hi Kids … I lost my singing voice last night and it’s time have some fun! At that point I had no idea what I was going to do next … so I just “did something”.

I drew on some inspiration from the Wiggles, last week’s Crowded House concert and my trust in be spontaneous. Here’s what I did:

1st … I asked the group if anyone had seen my pet Dinosaur? “No!” they all shrieked. After some banter and laughter I convinced them that it was hiding inside my guitar.

2nd … I said “We had better wake him up and to do this we all need to sing … can you help me out?” … “Yeesss!” they all cheered. At this point I was away and had them in the palm of my hand.

Every step (for the next 15 minutes) was completely improvised and spontaneous. I was completely present … responded to all offers … and when faced with the unknown I just trusted my instincts and “did something”. I also “let go” of where the gig might end up and celebrated my many mistakes (including poems that didn’t rhyme and stories that made no sense) with the kids. In fact the mistakes ended up being the funniest moments.

As for the dinosaur inside my guitar, one child asked “Is your pet dinosaur awake?” I had no idea how to respond so I pretended to fall asleep myself. I began to snore. The kids were wondering what to do. The Kinder teacher finally “got it” and said to the kids “I think we better wake Geoff up” … 1 … 2… 3… “Wake up Geoff!”

As in Open Space … it’s over when it’s over. They applauded … I took a bow.

On my way to Banff

I’m at LAX waiting for a connecting flight to Calgary then on to Banff for the improv conference – a highlight of my year for sure. It’s always fun to hang out with improv types and I also learn lots. Looking forward to it – and also at least two other Aussies will be there this year – Andrew Rixon and Christine Carlton.

I’ve been surfing too

I love the picture Chris used on his site taken by Jeremy. I’ll see your Canadian pic and raise you this Aussie Bells Beach one.

Modern problem solving – quality or quantity?

Thanks to Chris Corrigan for this link to Malcolm Gladwell talking about what it means to be successful, and what modern, complex problems need to be solved.A great comfort to those of us who are ordinary and persistant.

I love these guys

They make the web so easy to understand. Check out this vid on why you should have an RSS feed. Guess what I’m off to do now?

Blogging Code of Ethics

As a paid up, but generally inactive, journalist, I was please to discover this bloggers code of ethics, thanks to another blog I was exploring with the intriguing name teachfromthebeach. Gotta love that. As a relatively newbie to blogging there’s some great advice on both these sites.