Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: Opening Ritual/Big Meetings

[Elizabeth Stevenson (tamgoddess]

LOL. I'm with you, Sharon. But I think every group has its own culture and
needs. Some seem to thrive on the touchy-feely stuff, so more power to them.
We are in agreement that it isn't necessary for good process to have rituals
like these.

One of the things we do every year is have a Big Meeting, as I'm sure most
communities do. Whoever wants to take on the task of organizing it gets to
decide the agenda. Of course, if there are pressing issues, they usually
find their way in. But we try to keep the meeting focused on larger issues
or broader ideas. This is an outlet for those who like to have symbolic
rituals, and those of us who don't like them only have to put up with it
once/year. Big Meetings are a way for all of us to renew that connection
without going into diabetic shock at every meeting. It works for us.


-- 
Liz Stevenson
Southside Park Cohousing
Sacramento, California
tamgoddess [at] attbi.com

> 
> 
> On Friday, February 7, 2003, at 07:56  PM, Rob Sandelin wrote:
> 
>> good opening makes the environment much more positive and productive.
>> A good
>> way to accumulate a bunch of ideas is to search the internet using the
>> keyword, ICEBREAKER. There is a game titled, Icebreaker which has a
>> bunch of
>> great ideas for fun sharing topics.
> 
> Just to chime in from the other side -- I loathe these exercises and
> find them to be bad ways to focus people on issues. After many years of
> being subjected to them I have finally just refused categorically to
> participate in them. I don't stop others from doing them but I don't.
> 
> Sharon
> -----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org

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