MRCSE Post-Conference Reflections:  Reclaiming Time to Reflect

We began the MRCSE as a collaborative community effort committed to creating a new narrative of sustainability.  The 2010 MRCSE Summer conference helped grow this story by drawing from the abundance of our existing gifts and assets. This reflection page is a both an unstructured and structured space for the 2010 conference participants to share their experiences at the conference. We invite all to read and enjoy. (The picture to the left is one panel of a six panel mural co-created by the 2010 conference participants.)

Unstructured Post Conference Reflections: (IF YOU ONLY HAVE TIME TO DO ONE THING -- PLEASE COMPLETE THIS REFLECTION.)

Please use the associated "Conference Stories and Reflections" forum to share a story or reflection about your experience at 2010 Conference that still remains foremost in your mind and how this experience had a the power to transform how you see and imagine the world.

Structured Post Conference Activities:

The following structured post-conference activities repeat many of the pre-conference activities that were designed to begin our transformative learning possess.  These post-activities are now designed help us as a learning community further unfold our learning and capture the evolution of our thinking as a result of the 2010 Summer Conference.

Activity One:  Add even more information to your MRCSE profile and post an appreciative message in another person’s MRCSE profile book.  You can find the profile book by simply clicking on a person’s profile user name.  This will open his or her detail profile.  Scroll to the view the tabbed profile folders.  The third top level tab is the “Profile Book.”  Click on this tab and follow the link “sign profile book.” This will open a personal messaging system where you can leave a greeting. 

Activity Two: Plant to seed now to grow a new MRCSE 2011 conference attendee by taking a minute to share your experience at the MRCSE 2010 Conference with someone you would like to see attend the event next year. 

Activity Three:  Take a step this week towards your gift exchange and/or personal action plans commitments.  As a first step, use the “Commitments” forum to publicly share your commitments with us all (if you like).

Activity Four:  Use the associated forums to answer at the following questions and offer a respectful question or reflection to someone else’s response:

What are some of the possible outcomes you foresee for yourself and our collaborative as a result of this Conference? ( If you posted to this question prior to the conference, please respond to your own post and share how your thinking has evolved.)

What do you now feel are the ingredients for transformative learning? ( Again if you posted to this question prior to the conference, please respond to your own post and share how your thinking has evolved.)

Activity Five:   Use the MRCSE Forum Board to share what would you like to see as the future and next steps for the MRCSE.  While you are there, please share specific ideas that you feel would enrich our 2011 conference.

Activity Six:   Go for broke.  Anthony Weston in his book “How to Re-Imagine the World: A Pocket Guide for Practical Visionaries” suggests we imagine not just two steps down the road, but all the way.  Take your vision and multiply it by itself.  Use the associated forum to answer the following two questions:

What un-heard of possibilities lie all around us right here and right now? ( If you posted to this question prior to the conference, please add more thought or respond to someone elses.)

Activity Seven:  John McKnight and Peter Block, in their book “The Abundant Community” believe that a competent community builds on the gifts of its members.  This gift-mindedness occurs when “I will speak to you as if you have gifts and are waiting to offer them.”  Please share

what you now feel are your gifts and talent to help bring forth a sustainable future for us all.

Activity Eight:  Finally help us stay connected by joining the MRCSE Facebook page AND send a thank you to the Conserve School by joining their facebook page while you are there (and help them reach their goal of 6000 connections).

A Parting Thought from John Ikerd…

It seems the only thing that inspires me to write poetry in recent years is the MRCSE conference. I spent the trip from Fairfield to Columbia writing the song below.

I decided I wanted to write new words to a "timeless tune" rather than try to come up with a new tune. I eventually decided on "You are my sunshine" for the body of the song. I didn't know what the “Land of Endless Dreams” is but it just kept returning to my mind as a key phrase of the song. I decided it meant a future time of sustainable quality of life, when we all live in harmony with nature, all sharing nature's bounty, while leaving plenty for future generations.

         Land of Endless Dreams

                        By John Ikerd

(To the tune of "You are My Sunshine")

Many trails wind through the forests

Many paths along the streams

Many ways across the mountain

To the land of endless dreams

A land where we can live with nature

In peace and harmony as one

Where we all share nature’s bounty

And leave plenty for those to come

If you will learn the ways of forests

I will learn the ways of streams

Then we'll find our ways together

To the land of endless dreams

If your way is through the forests

And my way along the streams

We can still walk a ways together

Toward the land of endless dreams

A land where we can live with nature

In peace and harmony as one

Where we can all share nature’s bounty

And leave plenty for those to come

And when your go into the forest

And I continue by the stream

May transcendent peace be with you

Till our paths may cross again

(To tune of hymn, "Till we Meet') 

Till we me-e-et; Till we me-et

Till our journey is complete

Till we me-e-et; Till we me-et

Peace be with you till we meet again