I'm Feeling Encouraged!

I have sponsored a lot of activities in the past. I realize now that they were too specialized. And too structured. I love that I have finally realized that people need freedom. If they come to a gathering, they want to have freedom to participate in all kinds of ways. I feel hopeful that the structure of the community gathering is open enough to include everyone's needs. I see structure like the banks of a river--if the the structure is effective, it will help everyone to flow--like the river. Okay, enough about structure.

I have heard some very encouraging words. Some people are excited that I am hosting a gathering--it has been about a year since I have sponsored anything. One person noticed that I hadn't been very involved with our Fayetteville community for a while (I go in and out--in cycles) and she was glad to see that I hadn't given up. One person who encouraged me to do this is inviting others. She is already talking about future events, and planning on bringing free stuff to the park to share.

Another friend's face just lit up when I gave her the flier. She wanted extras to post and hand out. She knows how hard I have been working on this idea. She wants me to succeed, as well as get the benefits of the community gathering.

I offered to take the kids of a friend to the gathering. She is very busy these days, and I wanted to give her and her partner some time together. I was pleased to hear her say, "I feel torn--I want to attend because it sounds interesting, and I want time with my partner."

I feel different inviting people to this gathering than anything I have ever hosted. I feel inspired to give people a very personal invitation. I wish I could send an individual invite to every single person on my email list. It is a time to reconnect with people. One person who had been distancing herself from me replied to my personal invite (I did have time to send some personal invites) said she was ready to reconnect. One person said she was "thrilled" to receive an invitation, even though she couldn't come.

What's really exciting is that I am looking forward to having a good time! Even though I am the organizer, I won't need to control anything. I will simply present opportunities for people to interact. I have been way too controlling in the past. Going to the Open Space Technology Workshop with Lisa Heft when I went to San Francisco really helped me a lot in seeing how important it was to just create the space where people can thrive and open up.

I have had quite a challenging time because I don't have a car, and I don't have a printer. I didn't have any printed invitations. So I finally wrote a flier out by hand, and borrowed a friends car to get it copied. It is kind of funny how in this age of technology, I forgot that I had an option to printing something out! I suppose I could have hand copied each one--just putting on essential details, but I do so love to include all the juicy details.

Well, that happened all in the past few days. I look forward to sharing with you more wonderful news. And even if there are any obstacles, I will turn them in to stepping stones!