Here is some more extra harvest shared by some of the participants with sense of abundance and generosity. If you also want to share your harvest here with your willingness of learning/contributing, please contact Aiko.
A few moments made me vibrate
by the time everything is wrapped up, a few moments make me emotional. (Day 4) by Thu Lành
by the time everything is wrapped up, a few moments make me emotional. (Day 4) by Thu Lành
Art of Hosting Day #3 Experience
Blooming on the Water
“Breaking the surface
sunlight greets lotus seedlings
finding ways to bloom”
~Brendan B.
Waking up at 6:30am I begin my day with a few daily practices. First, I put myself through a stretching routine that I developed for myself. Secondly, I sit meditation for just fifteen minutes or so. Many other participates have offered to share their morning practices with the larger group. Some offerings include, running/walking together, shadow boxing, Plum Village Listening and Singing, Dance of Universal Peace, yoga, and writing morning pages. For many, after their morning practice they’ll head off to breakfast to eat and talk about various topics. I don’t eat breakfast so instead I went looking to a place to rest and ice my toe that I jammed earlier yesterday till the program begins at 9:00am.
At 9:00 am we start sitting in two large circles, as we have done in the past two days. The hosts of the morning begin with centering everyone down with a bell. Then some announcements are spoken and they give an overview of the daily schedule briefly. Afterwards, they invite the hosts that volunteered for the chick in to take center stage. The check-in hosts begin with an improvised meta-harvest of day 2. During this time they are acting out things that we did and memorable occurrences of the past day. They then invited the entire group to also reflect on the past day with a partner. They then requested the pairs of people to “get on the boat”. This process was a bit unclear for many of us and everyone I talked with didn’t really understand what we were doing as we made our way in pairs across the room to “get on the boat”. To close we all yelled something a long the lines of “sail off!” and returned to our chairs for the teaching on “Powerful Questions”.
“Powerful Questions” was a teaching on how to develop/share/explore meaningful questions that are alive in us. This acted as a primer for the “Open Space” conversations that would happen later on in the morning. The Powerful Questions started off with a brief introduction about questions and their power to change the way people think by how the questions themselves are framed. Then we were invited to create our own list of questions. I used this time to just free write whatever questions surfaced in my mind, these included:
“Open Space” is a practice that allows participates to host questions that are important to them or that are alive in them with others. This is not the first time I’ve been introduced to “Open Space” so I was excited to experience it again. The host team did a really great job explaining all the roles that people can hold and principles of the practice. The roles individuals can hold include:
After the host team talked about the roles and principles, it was time to have hosts to offer their topics to the community. The open space included 2 rounds, which lasted 40 minutes each. I decided to host a question about self-care in round one. Self-care is something I’m passionate about and wanted to discover and hear about other peoples experiences with the practice. My calling question was “How does/doesn’t self-care (hosting yourself) show up in your life?”. I had 5-6 people join my group at various times over the 40 minutes. We discussed:
I ate lunch.
After lunch the participates began learning about “2 Loops of Change” practice, which was a bit more abstract than the other things we had learned about up to that point. It was about how “dominant systems” (the status-quo) come into contact/conflict with “emerging systems”. The hosts discussed the role of “stewards” (reinforcing the old system) and “innovators” (playing with new systems and bridging the gap between the old and new). The hosts also discussed the roles of the “hospice”, where people from the old system are helped into the new emerging system. Also the “compost” where aspects of the old system are recycled and reused elsewhere if needed. The hosts also introduced some “acts of leadership” for innovators, which included:
I felt that this teaching didn’t resonate with me much since I don’t consider myself working to change any system through my work or life. I did however notice that there were a lot of people who found this teaching interesting and the host held the space well.
After learning about the “2 Loops of Change”, we moved on to the “Reflection Walk”. During the reflection walk, we ere invited to walk around in nature for 30 minutes and thinking about what is one thing that you want for yourself to “bloom” and another thing that you’ll “let go”. There was also an invitation to be aware of the ways nature can teach oneself. During this time, since I jammed my toe, I decided to just go back to my room and begin this reflection on the day as a whole. When I returned to the main hall, many people posted sticky notes on a board inviting people to share the one thing they want to “bloom” and “let go”. There was a brief sharing of how the experience was for people and then we moved into the “Appreciative Inquiry” practice.
The Appreciative Inquiry practice was held by the hosts of the practice really well and was clearly explained/demonstrated. During this practice we were broken up into group of three. We were invited to hold 3 different roles throughout three separate rounds. The first role was that of the storyteller who was in charge of sharing a story of conflict, which moved into connection. Then there was the witness, which was focused on sensing the energies and body language of the storyteller. The witness was also the time keeper of the group. Lastly, there was the listener who listened for the practices that supported the change from conflict to connection in the story being offered. In total each round was 15 minutes. Storyteller (10 mins), Witness (2 min) and the listener (3 mins).
I really enjoyed this activity in all the roles since it gave me the space to really focus in on specific during a story that I don’t have conscious attention for. For example, holding the role of the witness, allowed me to focus my attention on how the storytellers was holding themselves. Were they slouching in their chair or sitting up strait? How did their energy change as the story progressed and change to different phases? Were they moving their hands/arms/legs/ feet when speaking? Holding the role of witness allowed me to go a bit deeper into perceiving the story being told. The other roles had similar elements of focus and intentional awareness placed on different areas, which I am grateful to have experienced. After my two partners and I went through the process, there was a brief sharing circle as a large group in which we were invited to share about our experiences in each role. Once completed, we moved to dinner.
I ate dinner and had some really nice conversations with other participates.
After dinner there was spaciousness for most of the participates since the group party wouldn’t start till 9pm. The party, which included “The Art of Hosting Talent Show” started off with a group dance in a circle and then a smaller embodied dance with partners. There was music, drinking, food, and good company throughout the night. The talent show started with a guessing game, in which the lead participates of the party read aloud clues and people needed to guess which person of the hosting team they matched with. Then they had that member of the hosting team come up and receive words of appreciation from the participates. Afterwards, there was singing, playing of instruments, and a few other activities. The party lasted till midnight. That concluded day 3 of the Art of Hosting Program.
Blooming on the Water
“Breaking the surface
sunlight greets lotus seedlings
finding ways to bloom”
~Brendan B.
Waking up at 6:30am I begin my day with a few daily practices. First, I put myself through a stretching routine that I developed for myself. Secondly, I sit meditation for just fifteen minutes or so. Many other participates have offered to share their morning practices with the larger group. Some offerings include, running/walking together, shadow boxing, Plum Village Listening and Singing, Dance of Universal Peace, yoga, and writing morning pages. For many, after their morning practice they’ll head off to breakfast to eat and talk about various topics. I don’t eat breakfast so instead I went looking to a place to rest and ice my toe that I jammed earlier yesterday till the program begins at 9:00am.
At 9:00 am we start sitting in two large circles, as we have done in the past two days. The hosts of the morning begin with centering everyone down with a bell. Then some announcements are spoken and they give an overview of the daily schedule briefly. Afterwards, they invite the hosts that volunteered for the chick in to take center stage. The check-in hosts begin with an improvised meta-harvest of day 2. During this time they are acting out things that we did and memorable occurrences of the past day. They then invited the entire group to also reflect on the past day with a partner. They then requested the pairs of people to “get on the boat”. This process was a bit unclear for many of us and everyone I talked with didn’t really understand what we were doing as we made our way in pairs across the room to “get on the boat”. To close we all yelled something a long the lines of “sail off!” and returned to our chairs for the teaching on “Powerful Questions”.
“Powerful Questions” was a teaching on how to develop/share/explore meaningful questions that are alive in us. This acted as a primer for the “Open Space” conversations that would happen later on in the morning. The Powerful Questions started off with a brief introduction about questions and their power to change the way people think by how the questions themselves are framed. Then we were invited to create our own list of questions. I used this time to just free write whatever questions surfaced in my mind, these included:
- How can I apply what I’m learning in my life?
- What is the meaning of life?
- What makes life worth living?
- How can I love myself more?
- What practices nourish me?
- What do I want from this life?
- How does love show up in my life?
- How can I be a “better” me?
- What is calling me to move towards it?
- In what direction should I walk?
- What does “home” mean to me?
- Intention (what is the purpose of asking this question)
- Heartfelt words (does this question come from the heart?)
- Possibility (What could arise in asking this question?)
- Story (what stories could emerge from asking the question?)
- Travel (Can this question travel across a variety of experiences/is it too narrow?)
- Healthy Babies (Unknown, it was not expanded on)
“Open Space” is a practice that allows participates to host questions that are important to them or that are alive in them with others. This is not the first time I’ve been introduced to “Open Space” so I was excited to experience it again. The host team did a really great job explaining all the roles that people can hold and principles of the practice. The roles individuals can hold include:
- Butterfly (Takes time out to reflect)
- Bumblebee (Move between conversations freely)
- Participants (take part in the conversation)
- Caller (caller of topic question and the host of conversation)
- Whoever comes are the right people
- Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
- Whenever it starts is the right time
- When it’s over, it’s over
After the host team talked about the roles and principles, it was time to have hosts to offer their topics to the community. The open space included 2 rounds, which lasted 40 minutes each. I decided to host a question about self-care in round one. Self-care is something I’m passionate about and wanted to discover and hear about other peoples experiences with the practice. My calling question was “How does/doesn’t self-care (hosting yourself) show up in your life?”. I had 5-6 people join my group at various times over the 40 minutes. We discussed:
- How does self-care show up in your life?
- What specifically are some practices of self care in your life?
- What are the challenges that come up when practicing self-care?
I ate lunch.
After lunch the participates began learning about “2 Loops of Change” practice, which was a bit more abstract than the other things we had learned about up to that point. It was about how “dominant systems” (the status-quo) come into contact/conflict with “emerging systems”. The hosts discussed the role of “stewards” (reinforcing the old system) and “innovators” (playing with new systems and bridging the gap between the old and new). The hosts also discussed the roles of the “hospice”, where people from the old system are helped into the new emerging system. Also the “compost” where aspects of the old system are recycled and reused elsewhere if needed. The hosts also introduced some “acts of leadership” for innovators, which included:
- naming (calling attention to a problem)
- connect
- sharing
- Illuminate Story creation
I felt that this teaching didn’t resonate with me much since I don’t consider myself working to change any system through my work or life. I did however notice that there were a lot of people who found this teaching interesting and the host held the space well.
After learning about the “2 Loops of Change”, we moved on to the “Reflection Walk”. During the reflection walk, we ere invited to walk around in nature for 30 minutes and thinking about what is one thing that you want for yourself to “bloom” and another thing that you’ll “let go”. There was also an invitation to be aware of the ways nature can teach oneself. During this time, since I jammed my toe, I decided to just go back to my room and begin this reflection on the day as a whole. When I returned to the main hall, many people posted sticky notes on a board inviting people to share the one thing they want to “bloom” and “let go”. There was a brief sharing of how the experience was for people and then we moved into the “Appreciative Inquiry” practice.
The Appreciative Inquiry practice was held by the hosts of the practice really well and was clearly explained/demonstrated. During this practice we were broken up into group of three. We were invited to hold 3 different roles throughout three separate rounds. The first role was that of the storyteller who was in charge of sharing a story of conflict, which moved into connection. Then there was the witness, which was focused on sensing the energies and body language of the storyteller. The witness was also the time keeper of the group. Lastly, there was the listener who listened for the practices that supported the change from conflict to connection in the story being offered. In total each round was 15 minutes. Storyteller (10 mins), Witness (2 min) and the listener (3 mins).
I really enjoyed this activity in all the roles since it gave me the space to really focus in on specific during a story that I don’t have conscious attention for. For example, holding the role of the witness, allowed me to focus my attention on how the storytellers was holding themselves. Were they slouching in their chair or sitting up strait? How did their energy change as the story progressed and change to different phases? Were they moving their hands/arms/legs/ feet when speaking? Holding the role of witness allowed me to go a bit deeper into perceiving the story being told. The other roles had similar elements of focus and intentional awareness placed on different areas, which I am grateful to have experienced. After my two partners and I went through the process, there was a brief sharing circle as a large group in which we were invited to share about our experiences in each role. Once completed, we moved to dinner.
I ate dinner and had some really nice conversations with other participates.
After dinner there was spaciousness for most of the participates since the group party wouldn’t start till 9pm. The party, which included “The Art of Hosting Talent Show” started off with a group dance in a circle and then a smaller embodied dance with partners. There was music, drinking, food, and good company throughout the night. The talent show started with a guessing game, in which the lead participates of the party read aloud clues and people needed to guess which person of the hosting team they matched with. Then they had that member of the hosting team come up and receive words of appreciation from the participates. Afterwards, there was singing, playing of instruments, and a few other activities. The party lasted till midnight. That concluded day 3 of the Art of Hosting Program.
Most of the time, meeting many like-minded people will leave me with a lot of lingering feelings & thoughts post-event. My way of releasing them to move on is usually journaling or writing poems.
This time is not an exception. I wrote down this poem on the last day at AoH to harvest my own learning & reflection. At first, I wanted to keep it to myself as I was not confident to share. But yesterday I read it again, and I was inspired by the image of people dancing together in the living system, very lively and joyful. I decided to share my artistic gift with you. May the poem support you to reconnect with the spirit of AoH in the future like I already did.
Thank you all for coming and showing me the magic of the living system, and the power of us 💓
----
The Living System
Coming together
in times of sudden strangeness post-Covid
where everyone is finding the source of inspiration
Here we are
finding one another
in AoH Vietnam 2022
Learning and living together in 3 days
Be hosted
Hosting others
Hosting ourselves
and co-creating a learning community.
Gathering around the pond
Listening to understand
Speaking with intention
Seeing from different lenses
Inviting openness and curiosity
Asking for what you need
and offering what you can
Taking care of the well-being of others.
Rooting in the mud
Digging deep into personal stories
asking powerful questions
and harvesting collective wisdom
around the coffee tables.
Being present
Giving and receiving love
Being who we are
Shaping what becomes possible
when we tap into the power of us.
Speaking our truth
BINGO
Being open
BINGO
Being courageous
BINGO
Trusting one another
BINGO
Connection
BINGO
Inspiration comes from every person
from every corner
Wisdom comes naturally
through storytelling
and everyone's willingness to participate
to contribute to something bigger than
just an individual.
This is a living system
lively
always moving
adaptive
to every stimulation
Whether the nudge's big or small,
the living system
always find a way through
all chaos and
sudden strangeness
In fact,
the sudden strangeness
is a part of the living system
It shows us the power of us
coming together
to sense what's happening
and figuring out the path forward
All living beings are
singing
dancing
contacting
innovating
connecting
nurturing
helping one another
illuminating the emerging system
in the wonderful moment
of happiness and joy
Igniting the torch of
wisdom and love
Blooming the flower
inside our heart
The flower of
gratitude
clarity
patience
possibility
kindness
wisdom
and love.
All are valuable harvests
for the whole village
to enjoy and take away
and more importantly,
to remember the power of us -
the magic happens
when we join hands through the unknown.
Blooming flowers fall into the water
flowing gently down the river
to the sea
bringing beauty, love and wisdom
to share with the world.
Thank you the organizing team
Thank you all brothers, sisters, and friends
from Cambodia
Singapore
India
China
Japan
Australia
France
and different parts of the Motherland Vietnam
Thank you nature
Thank you all living beings
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
We are the AoH family.
20.11.2022 - Bai Dinh, Ninh Binh
Mai Phương Bùi
This time is not an exception. I wrote down this poem on the last day at AoH to harvest my own learning & reflection. At first, I wanted to keep it to myself as I was not confident to share. But yesterday I read it again, and I was inspired by the image of people dancing together in the living system, very lively and joyful. I decided to share my artistic gift with you. May the poem support you to reconnect with the spirit of AoH in the future like I already did.
Thank you all for coming and showing me the magic of the living system, and the power of us 💓
----
The Living System
Coming together
in times of sudden strangeness post-Covid
where everyone is finding the source of inspiration
Here we are
finding one another
in AoH Vietnam 2022
Learning and living together in 3 days
Be hosted
Hosting others
Hosting ourselves
and co-creating a learning community.
Gathering around the pond
Listening to understand
Speaking with intention
Seeing from different lenses
Inviting openness and curiosity
Asking for what you need
and offering what you can
Taking care of the well-being of others.
Rooting in the mud
Digging deep into personal stories
asking powerful questions
and harvesting collective wisdom
around the coffee tables.
Being present
Giving and receiving love
Being who we are
Shaping what becomes possible
when we tap into the power of us.
Speaking our truth
BINGO
Being open
BINGO
Being courageous
BINGO
Trusting one another
BINGO
Connection
BINGO
Inspiration comes from every person
from every corner
Wisdom comes naturally
through storytelling
and everyone's willingness to participate
to contribute to something bigger than
just an individual.
This is a living system
lively
always moving
adaptive
to every stimulation
Whether the nudge's big or small,
the living system
always find a way through
all chaos and
sudden strangeness
In fact,
the sudden strangeness
is a part of the living system
It shows us the power of us
coming together
to sense what's happening
and figuring out the path forward
All living beings are
singing
dancing
contacting
innovating
connecting
nurturing
helping one another
illuminating the emerging system
in the wonderful moment
of happiness and joy
Igniting the torch of
wisdom and love
Blooming the flower
inside our heart
The flower of
gratitude
clarity
patience
possibility
kindness
wisdom
and love.
All are valuable harvests
for the whole village
to enjoy and take away
and more importantly,
to remember the power of us -
the magic happens
when we join hands through the unknown.
Blooming flowers fall into the water
flowing gently down the river
to the sea
bringing beauty, love and wisdom
to share with the world.
Thank you the organizing team
Thank you all brothers, sisters, and friends
from Cambodia
Singapore
India
China
Japan
Australia
France
and different parts of the Motherland Vietnam
Thank you nature
Thank you all living beings
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
We are the AoH family.
20.11.2022 - Bai Dinh, Ninh Binh
Mai Phương Bùi
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"Coming together cross-national boundaries strangers become friends stepping into the practice of holding self and other" Poem written by me, Brendan Becker in reflection of the program and Nguyen Lannah's gift of the words "cross-nation" Thank you |
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From invitation of Nguyen Doan Huan and Aki Thu, please find my final harvest in the last check out. I did not think of it as a poem but I am happy that it comes to your heart in that way 🙂
"We are the continuance of hosting history Our ancestors in Vietnam and many other countries already practiced Art of Hosting for a thousand of years, in a thousand of ways. By Deep listening Hosting others Sharing and support Forgiveness and sympathy Resilience and patience Together - We are One. " So sweet, as how this pomegranate tastes. Thank you again - all my friends Nguyen Thuy Linh |
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