[Ailist] Positive Core of America: responsibility

[John Loty]

Mary-Alice and Robyn, et al,

Yes I want to see and hear the discussion about the world the whole wide
world - which includes Australia - where I came to live with my Ukrainian
mother, myself, having been born in Germany many moons ago. 

Your reference to flowers blooming and seeds being planted reminds me of
that great man - Confucius.

He said 2500 years ago that 
the wise person organises Society so that, LIKE A PLANT, all parts cooperate
together for the benefit of the WHOLE. (loose translation!)

The sub title for the Introductory Book on Appreciative Inquiry (Taos) by
Frank Barrett and Ronald Fry is 
A Positive Approach to Building Cooperative Capacity --- that is what
interests me --- wherever I can do that.

AI fosters and enables that collaborative construction and it is, for me, a
1 step at a time challenge.

The very first article I wrote about AI (here in Australia) was about
Changing the World and that is the big picture for me but practically it is
about becoming the change that I would have and facilitating it or
influencing things (people) in that direction wherever I am able to exert
influence.

Cheers


John Loty
Appreciative Inquiry Advocate, Facilitator and Consultant


-----Original Message-----
From: ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu
[mailto:ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Mary-Alice
Arthur
Sent: Friday, 13 March 2009 9:02 AM
To: Robyn Stratton-Berkessel; Leif Josefsson
Cc: AI Listserve; Madelyn Blair
Subject: Re: [Ailist] Positive Core of America: responsibility

Robyn

Thanks for the conversation you are continuing to create and respond to.  I,
like you, am a transplant to the land I call home.  That gives me the
outside perspective and a curiosity about why things are the way they are
(here, but also everywhere!).  I think something very interesting happens
when you uproot yourself from your home culture and take yourself 'on the
road' in whatever way you do that.

What I am grateful for is your curiosity to pursue the question about what
would make the place you live in, perhaps love, shine.  I have been holding
a similar question about New Zealand.

What would it take to help people recognise that what *is*, is a result of
all our thoughts about it?  We could focus on what we most love and
appreciate and choose to have more of it.  We could turn away from a focus
on what's broken and choose to cherish who we are at our best.  We could
stand in gratitude at what each different component of the collective brings
to our strength and beauty. Such a small-- and radical -- thing!

If that's true, then each contribution to the conversation is the most
valuable one.  And really, it doesn't matter where you choose to focus, when
you bring the light into the corner where you are, it cannot be contained
there, it spills out into the rest of the room.

Long ago I worked with someone who was a very good trainer.  She said to me,
of herself:  "I am a seed planter.  I look for any arable ground.  And when
the flower opens in front of me in my training room, I know it wasn't my
doing, I honour the one who planted the seed and allowed me to see it come
to fruition."  In the work I do as a facilitator, it has been valuable to
remind myself of this, especially when the gardening work seems tough and
unseen.

> I¹ll conclude by restating that I think  the greatest opportunity for
> America is a mindset shift from fear to love and a shift from "I" to
> "we".
> 
> And the invitation still stands, "Imagine the World"!  Who's in?
> 

I'm imagining the world in every conversation I have.  And, oh, is it an
interesting place!

Mary Alice



Mary-Alice Arthur
SOAR
PO Box 10-868
Wellington
New Zealand
mobile:  +64-21-687-627
email:  mary-alice at getsoaring.com
web:  http://www.getsoaring.com




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