Celebratory Agnosticism is waiting to emerge from a field of possibility held by a group practicing Collective Presencing.
The not-knowing-yet in a generative space resides at a different level. It is a not-yet-known – by anyone, anywhere. The challenge is to strengthen our ability to sit – and to live – suspended in the void with no clue of what is next.
John Stokdijk is the caller as defined in Collective Presencing.
A caller is someone who feels something needs to be done, who makes the first move and invites others in. Being a caller does not mean doing it all on your own. A caller is not the leader in the classical sense. Rather, he or she probably has the shortest line to the soul of the organisation or the heart of the possibility.
The next, minimal, elegant step for Celebratory Agnosticism is forming a hosting team.
When hosting a Collective Presencing process, there is no full-blown design (complete with timings) for the process/gathering/project/meeting. Instead, we have a process of preparation – which might be long or short, depending on the coherence of the collective sensing of the hosting team – and an alignment with the rhythm and timing of what is around us. Most of the preparation time is spent in an intense co-sensing of what will be the right guiding question for the gathering. Alongside the guiding question, the inquiry unfolds within the circle practice. The circle holds the space, provides the energetic container in which the potential can unfold and, eventually, be articulated. These two elements – the holding space (the womb-like energetic container) and the guiding question (straight like an arrow) – form the creative whole in which the gathering can unfold. Welcome to the generative possibilities of circle practice!
The hosting team will find the others who may desire to participate in the Celebratory Agnosticism project.
Following this path, you inevitably reach a point where you need other people who also live from this place of inner inspiration – not just for encouragement and support, but also in order to realise (even) more of your potential. I well remember the moment when I realised that I could no longer evolve on my own. In this practice of participating fully in life, I need others with whom to share and express more of what I am able to see and do. I need a collective (a group, a team – whatever you call it) to be able to go deeper into myself, to become more of who I am; not in the personality-habit sense, but in order to shed ever deeper layers of those habits and reveal more of what is latent in me. We need each other – I need you, because of us.
Participants in the Celebratory Agnosticism project will give attention to attention.
Practitioners of collective presencing believe that it is important – always and everywhere – to clarify the intention of any gathering, call or event. Why is intention so important? It seems that by setting an intention, and then speaking and articulating it, we make an energetic connection with the potential implicit therein. As if intention and potential are different facets of the same whole. It will be clear by now that speaking the intent and inviting into collective inquiry is quite different than setting an agenda or offering a detailed plan of action (which will tend to lead to disagreement, sometimes even argument and conflict). The guiding question acts as a boundary or membrane, framing the scope of the inquiry and its attendant conversations. Beyond that, there is a high level of not-knowing-yet what will arise from the collective inquiry.
Celebratory Agnosticism will contribute to collective wisdom of the inhabitants of the earth.
The Circle of Presence gave us insights and a methodology for collectively reaching a place where we all are present and can start to live from collective wisdom. A Circle of Creation is built on the assumption that speaking, acting and living from stillness, as participants in collectives, is an acquired skill and that we are ready to jump even deeper and wider. This will make our circles, gatherings and teams ready for a deeper emergence that is in service of and in resonance with more of the world and the Earth around us. It is a search to live constantly in the emergent and come together to full generativity.
More information about Collective Presencing is available here.
More information about the journey of John Stokdijk to Celebratory Agnosticism is available here.
More information about John Stokdijk is available here.