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CoheringCommunity  

Conversations That Matter

The Practice of Possibility

Let’s regenerate the authentic heart of being human

We invite you to a unique, ongoing opportunity to experience the power and potential of connected circle-based practices, open dialogue, and a caring, generative community. Together, we’ll open a pathway towards healing our fractured world and building our collective capacity to thrive amidst change. Together we'll practice the art of possibility!

In a safe, online space, through engaging questions, open dialogue, and reflective practices, we will explore and gain insight into our individual and collective potential, authentic power, and inherent wisdom. You’ll connect and engage with like-hearted souls on a path to unity, truth, goodness, and beauty.

If you have a longing or calling to be part of a community where you have a felt-sense of belonging where you feel truly seen, heard, safe, and supported, then reach out and join with us in the practice of possibility.

 More things are possible together!

What you'll experience

This is a highly interactive and experiential program. You won't see much in the way of presentations. Instead, through powerful questions, connections, open dialogue and reflections, we will learn, integrate, inspire, and gain new insights together.

Almost everything will come in the form of an invitation. From the invitation, you get to decide your level of participation and the richness of your experience. As in life, what you get out of this experience, will be what you put into it. The possibilities are  yours to own. If you show up, be present, and fully engage in the conversations and the opportunities to deeply connect with yourself and others, we expect you will experience a felt sense of:

  • Belonging, connection, friendship and trust
  • Being respected, safe, seen, heard and supported
  • Being stretched into new levels of awareness
  • Hope, purpose and expanded possibilities
  • The power and potential of conscious community

Is this right for you?

You'll know if this is right for you. It may come as an inner 'knowing' or 'calling' to take this journey with us. You might notice a deep resonance with the possibility that small groups of coherent, passionate people can have a significant impact on our world. You might sense that some of your own longings may be fulfilled here.

The Cohering Community experience is about moving from longing to landing! Instead of craving to find belonging in a world that works for all, we are inviting you to step into the possibilities and own your part in co-creating it now! Together, in support of each other, we'll live into the realization of our longings, and co-create a better world, one caring circle at a time.

This program may not be for you if you are deeply lost in the problems of the world, and unwilling or unable to imagine the possibilities. While we all get lost from time to time in blaming others or playing the victim, this experience is about living into the future we long for, rather than dwelling on the past, or trying to fix each other. That said, in our circle we will practice holding each other wherever we are at, with empathy, care, compassion, and, of course, possibility!

You are invited to join us for the Whole Journey

Our ongoing journey will take us one step at a time through six essential community conversations as outlined in Peter Block’s book, “Community – The Structure of Belonging.” In addition, we will include additional conversations and some open Bohmian Dialogue sessions based on the work of physicist David Bohm.

While you can drop in at any time for one session or more, we invite you to commit to the whole journey. In our experience, the more sessions you attend, the deeper you will connect with others, and the more you will learn, grow and feel like you belong.

Think of this as an oasis or sanctuary that you can come back to again and again to regenerate, recharge, have engaging conversations, gain new insight, and meet like-hearted souls. We anticipate that you will experience profound synchronicity and possibilities emerging out of the InterBeing!

 As an extension of your experience here, we invite you to:

..Join the Conversation!

Generally, we meet on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month at 11am NA-Eastern. On a regular basis, we will also host each of the 6 powerful community conversations as outlined by Peter Block. These conversations include Invitation, Possibility, Ownership, Dissent, Commitment and Gifts. We'll also host what we feel are other important community conversations and Dialogues.

You'll find our current conversation schedule below.  You can register for one or more conversations, but to experience the full power and possibility of these conversations as well as a sense of belonging in a community, we encourage you to commit to attending as many conversations as you can. From experience, we think you'll feel at home here! You are welcome to attend free of charge or offer a donation upon registration. 

Open Dialogue

April 3rd from 11-1pm (EDT)

Bohm Dialogue

Experience the power and possibility of open Bohm inspired Dialogue. When given the right space, learning, clarity, understanding and wisdom emerges beyond what any of us could create alone. Join us in the experience of emergent, generative Dialogue.

The Space of Belonging

April 17th from 11-1pm (EDT)

Let's explore what it means to belong

What does it mean to truly belong? What keeps us from feeling that sense of “home” in our communities, workplaces, or even within ourselves? Join us for a deeply connecting conversation as we dive into these questions with curiosity, empathy, and hope.

Transforming Betrayal

May 1st from 11-1pm (EDT)

Transforming Betrayal

Join us to explore the tender terrain of betrayal—sharing personal and collective stories, reflecting on the wounds it leaves, and discovering pathways to forgiveness and trust. Together, let's uncover how to heal, open our hearts, and co-create a community rooted in love and connection.

The Commitment Conversation

March 6th from 11-12:30pm (EDT)

Peter Block's Commitment Conversation

The Gifts Conversation

March 13th from 11-12:30pm (EDT)

Meet Your Hosts

Lisa Persson - Sweden

Lisa Persson - Sweden

My passion in this life is life; in all its shapes and forms. From a young age I felt curious and fascinated by connections and relations, whether it be within myself, with others or nature. I was very drawn to the possibilities that reside within each and every one of us, in particular when coming together, when we allow and invite the possibilities. Through this interest and by combining two of my favourite things, sports and behavioral science, I started training within Sport Psychology. This was a ´great venture and a wonderful learning journey. Later, these studies were transferred into the field of Organizational Psychology.

Now, this passion has brought me in the direction of deep transformation and sustained change, where I practice as a deep transformational coach. Still, my calling is pulling me towards the endless possibilities emerging when being and experiencing our togetherness – here is where I love to spend my time!

‘Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there’ (Rumi).

Richard Schultz - Canada

Richard Schultz

I am passionate about working with organizations and community to expand their capacities for authentic connection, leadership, collaboration and innovation. I especially love facilitating Open Space Technology meetings. I’ve had the pleasure of facilitating several peace conferences for Rotarians, co-founded the PeaceLeaders Collaborative and facilitated Greater Moncton, Canada becoming an International City of Peace. On a regular basis, I host open, online Leadership Dialogues and Peace Cafés using the Bohm Dialogue method.

I resonate with Gandhi’s statement, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” For the last 20+ years, I have studied, taught and worked with hundreds of individuals to elevate their lives from the inside -> out by changing limiting beliefs, forgiveness, releasing trauma, and integrating shadow. I especially love doing “Shadow integration work.” 'Shadow,' often birthed in trauma, is at the core of most limiting behaviours and largely responsible for the polarization we are experiencing in our world today.

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In this program, you will experience many conversations designed to deepen our coherence and connection with ourselves and others. These core conversations include 6 tried and proven conversations from Peter Block's book, "Community - The Structure of Belonging".

People become powerful when they choose to shift the context within which they act in the world. Communities are human systems given form by conversations that build relatedness. The conversations that build relatedness most often occur through associational life, where people show up by choice.

Each of these conversations will be experienced through inquiry with powerful questions. The power is in the inquiry, not the answers. The Peter Block conversations that are included in the program are:

  • The Invitation Conversation
    "Invitation is the means through which hospitality is created. Invitation counters the conventional belief that change requires a mandate or persuasion. Invitation honors the importance of choice, the necessary condition for accountability." - Peter Block
  • The Possibility Conversation
    The distinction is between possibility and problem-solving. Possibility is a future beyond our reach. The possibility conversation works on us and evolves from a discussion of personal crossroads. It takes the form of a declaration, best made publicly.
  • The Ownership Conversation
    It asks people to act as if they are creating what exists in the world. The distinction is between ownership and blame.
  • The Dissent Conversation
    The dissent conversation creates an opening for commitment. When dissent is expressed, just listen. Don't solve it, defend against it, or explain anything. The primary distinction is between dissent and lip service. A second distinction is between dissent and denial, rebellion, or resignation.
  • The Commitment Conversation
    The commitment conversation is a promise with no expectation of return. Commitment is distinguished from barter. The enemy of commitment is lip service, not dissent or opposition.
    The commitments that count the most are ones made to peers and other citizens/members. We have to explicitly provide support for members/citizens to declare that there is no promise they are willing to make at this time. Refusal to promise does not cost us our membership or seat at the table. We only lose our seat when we do not honor our word.
  • The Gifts Conversation
    The leadership and citizen/member task is to bring the gifts of those on the margin into the center. The distinction is between gifts and deficiencies or needs. We are not defined by deficiencies or what is missing. We are defined by our gifts and what is present. We choose our destiny when we have the courage to acknowledge our own gifts and choose to bring them into the world. A gift is not a gift until it is offered.
X

Over a span of 25 years, David Bohm spent a considerable amount of time in conversation with the famous philosopher and teacher, Jiddu Krisnamurti. From Bohm's experience of these conversations, David Bohm proposed a powerful, free flowing way of dialoguing where people practice experiencing everyone's point of view fully, equally and non-judgmentally in order to reach common understanding.

David Bohm, Physicist

Bohm felt that open dialogue could help us solve the many crises that face society and expand human consciousness. Indeed, in a world where polarized, fear and domination-based communication is the norm, Bohm dialogue gives us a simple structure to elevate the way we relate to ourselves, each other and the world, preparing the ground for deeper learning, connection and collaboration.

X

In this program, you will experience many conversations designed to deepen our coherence and connection with ourselves and others. These core conversations include 6 tried and proven conversations from Peter Block's book, "Community - The Structure of Belonging".

People become powerful when they choose to shift the context within which they act in the world. Communities are human systems given form by conversations that build relatedness. The conversations that build relatedness most often occur through associational life, where people show up by choice.

Each of these conversations will be experienced through inquiry with powerful questions. The power is in the inquiry, not the answers. The Peter Block conversations that are included in the program are:

  • The Invitation Conversation
    "Invitation is the means through which hospitality is created. Invitation counters the conventional belief that change requires a mandate or persuasion. Invitation honors the importance of choice, the necessary condition for accountability." - Peter Block
  • The Possibility Conversation
    The distinction is between possibility and problem-solving. Possibility is a future beyond our reach. The possibility conversation works on us and evolves from a discussion of personal crossroads. It takes the form of a declaration, best made publicly.
  • The Ownership Conversation
    It asks people to act as if they are creating what exists in the world. The distinction is between ownership and blame.
  • The Dissent Conversation
    The dissent conversation creates an opening for commitment. When dissent is expressed, just listen. Don't solve it, defend against it, or explain anything. The primary distinction is between dissent and lip service. A second distinction is between dissent and denial, rebellion, or resignation.
  • The Commitment Conversation
    The commitment conversation is a promise with no expectation of return. Commitment is distinguished from barter. The enemy of commitment is lip service, not dissent or opposition.
    The commitments that count the most are ones made to peers and other citizens/members. We have to explicitly provide support for members/citizens to declare that there is no promise they are willing to make at this time. Refusal to promise does not cost us our membership or seat at the table. We only lose our seat when we do not honor our word.
  • The Gifts Conversation
    The leadership and citizen/member task is to bring the gifts of those on the margin into the center. The distinction is between gifts and deficiencies or needs. We are not defined by deficiencies or what is missing. We are defined by our gifts and what is present. We choose our destiny when we have the courage to acknowledge our own gifts and choose to bring them into the world. A gift is not a gift until it is offered.