JULY 6, 2007
Friends, ********************
The http://www.internetbarcontest.org/ for which I am a judge is going well. People from around the world are participating in the design of a trusting online system for resolving disputes. The “Inconvenient Truth” www.climatecorps.org message is gaining momentum every day. The live earth concert is this Saturday. Please contact me if you would like me to do a presentation. The Berrett-Koehler Authors Cooperative is picking up steam. We have just a little room left for both the July 26 Marketing Workshop in My work with the American Management Association is going well. They are reviewing a proposal to do a course based on the Agreement and Resolution work I do. I will be doing programs in July, August, September and October. www.AMANet.org I will begin my second 12 week “Becoming a Resolutionary” program in September. Details to follow within the week, or email me. Based on the inquiries I have received I expect it will fill up quickly. Senator Bill Bradley has expressed interest in the www.NavigatingOurFuture.org movement I am working on with I continue to enjoy my presentations as a faculty member at CEO Space www.IBIGlobal.com I will be there July 23 in LA. In September I will be doing a series of “Moments of Insight” about Sustainable Collaboration for my friend and colleague On September 17 I will be doing a keynoye presentation at the Northern CA Project Manangment Institute meeting. www.pmi-sfbac.org In September I will be doing a two-day workshop in In October I will be appearing at the South Bay OD Network Annual Conference www.SBODN.org as well as the California Bar Association Enviornmental Lawyers Annual Retreat. My friend and colleague Kim Weichel of the Institute for Peacebuilding will be doing a week-end workshop at Esalen in August. www.Esalen.org for details. My friend Sasha continues to help people find their passion by applying the work of Janet and Chris Attwood, authors of “The Passion Test.” The work is a powerful way to connect with what you are here to do, and the contribution you are here to make. Email her at ssabbeth@cs.com or call 415-328-2631. Now it’s time for the real Independence Day message! I will begin with a few questions… What is Do you feel independent? What would make you feel independent? Would you like to feel interdependent? How would you go about that? Last Saturday I saw Michael Moore’s latest movie Sicko. Many reviews speak of the movie as a “hilarious comedy. That was not the message I took away. Sure, it had many funny moments. But that was the vehicle for delivering a powerful and tragic message. The and courage to do so. In the meantime, although we have material possessions beyond the dreams of most people, in some sense many will be living out a feudal existence as serfs on the masters land, tied to our lords by health insurance or hefty mortgages. So the good life, as presently constituted, may be the antithesis of freedom and independence. Which raises the questions posed above about what freedom and independence are. For me independence is the freedom from the compulsion or the need of “must have.” I spent most of my youth addicted to food. That compulsion rendered me a prisoner of my own thoughts and deeds. When I bring that forward and ask if we are a free society my mind immediately says no. We are often addicted to being “less than” and “not looking good” depending on what a vendor wants to sell us. Everyone also seems addicted to being right - the rightness reflected every day in the media as one pundit is pitted against the other. We never get to an inquiring discussion – only grenade lobbing and shallow right / wrong shouting matches. I believe that our next step will come when we can dialogue and come to some understanding about what to do. …how can we do it…and reach consensus on action steps. How you ask. What comes to mind are the four other people I had the pleasure and privilege of designing a retreat with. Each person brought and was a part of the discussion and solution that will help us engage deeply these important questions:
Marilee Adsams, inventor of Question Thinking, author of “Change Your Question, Change Your Life.” Diana Whitney, founder of Appreciative Inquiry – and facilitator of deep dialogue Myron Rogers co-author of “ …and I’m always aspiring toward agreement and resolution. To sum it all up: If you knew the secret history of those you would like to punish you would find a sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all your hostility HW Longfellow ? Having said all of the above, we do have great freedom, and we can have much more. May you aspire to higher levels of interdependence. Love, Stewart Counselor, Mediator, Facilitator, Trainer Author: Getting To Resolution The Book of Agreement 510-777-1166 510-814-1010cell |
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Stewart@ResolutionWorks.com | www.ResolutionWorks.com Stewart Levine |
