Diving in, Day one

January 2010. We arrive in the midst of freakish snow storms. The ice is broken, and we dive in. 

***

Early March 2011 and a morning frost coats the ground, the trees. The air is fresh, brisk.

We are different and yet the same. A momentary hesitation, a momentary wobble, and we dive in once more. The afternoon sun warms the ground. Below the surface, tiny roots are spreading.

***

Monday night, we load onto the bus, heading for a celebratory "authentic leadership" dinner event at Amerongen Castle. As the sun sets, we wind through countryside and villages, the bus barely fitting down the narrow streets. We are too big to fit under a bridge, get rerouted, take a wrong turn....and the magical ride goes on for almost two hours. At the back of the bus, Luke takes out his guitar and begins to sing.

***

Tuesday morning and the women leaders are "coming into their own" in one building, visiting places of deep inspiration and deep frustration, crying or laughing, sometime both. In another, leadership panels, mostly men, tell their stories and convene circles of dialogue. Helen, who visits between them, asks why these two energies, each so strong, are usually separate.

***

Tuesday afternoon and Otto Scharmer asks what is dying and what is being born, and each response is so clear, so true. The voices are German, Lebanese, Italian, Chinese, British, Dutch, American, Danish, Indian... We listen to the global field, on and on. And then Otto shares what he is seeing, and what he believes is needed, the dots to connect, the forces to harness. Arawana Hayashi leads us into the sensing of the body, the simplicity of the dance that is always going on, usually below awareness. We tune in to ourselves as a social body, now more together, more tender and awake.

***

Tuesday evening and it's a dinner celebration of feminine leadership and 100 years of international women's day. We watch video clips of women's voices, each extraordinary in clarity and strength. We recognize these voices, often muted but now so needed. After each clip, we talk at our tables. Then singing, toasts, a ritual with beads just brought from Tunisia, and it is time for bed.