Man am I glad that I went to The Art of Hosting workshop in Karlskrona, Sweden, last week!
130 people from all over the world joined in a circle of trust. We left our egos at home, and stepped into a safe space to learn from each other. To explore a sustainable future for our inner selves and the world we live in.

The art of hosting community consists of a growing group of people taking leadership of their own lives, to help others find theirs. To allow them to start or facilitate change. In social structures, in organisations, or whatever group of people that are bound together.
The community has no structure, and is all about self empowerment.

Some of the founders of the movement, together with many volunteers, took up their role of “stewards”, enabling us to become host to a group of souls to find their own answers.
Inspiring us with every step, they kept reminding us to differentiate our pure selves from our egos, to be truly receptive and helpful.

The first day was about “stepping in”, to become acquainted with each other and the practices. To allow us to become familiar with the tools. To know which to use for each situation, and for the different groups we might be dealing with: policy makers, managers, workers, fellows…
We ended with story telling, because each of us has a story to tell that shows who we are. Four stories were so amazing, beautiful, thrilling and inspiring, that their ‘writers’ were asked to share them with the group at large. And so they did.
Tears fell. Into an awakening pond.

The second day was about “stepping up”, to help out with the work at hand. Most of us helped in any way we could. Some helped with each days’ starting ritual, the check-in, asking us to do physical exercise or contemplate, or meditate. Others helped with the various types of “harvests” we wanted to gather. The harvesting of our experiences and insights is an essential part of the process. It not only serves as a binding memory of what we are trying to accomplish, but also as food for others not with us at that time. It was amazing to see so many artists draw up such wonderful maps of our journey, and others willing to spread the word online on twitter, facebook and websites. I started a poetry dialog, and asked others to add their part. Music was made and songs were performed. Wonderful!

The third and last day was all about being proactive. 24 people could host their own group to get help with their own questions, issues and projects. 28 came forward, and extra space was created to attend to all of them. Wow!
Many got involvement in concrete, not so concrete, small and large projects. Lots of connections were made, and many got even more inspired.
I hesitated when I was one of the last to come forward. Most of the others were so much further with their growth and visions, but I had my own personal questions, so I overcame my insecurities and was glad I did.
Since long do I wonder what the conditions are for a sincere and most open initial encounter with a fellow human being. So I asked what those were, and if we could put this into words. Into sentences that would set the stage for the rest of our interaction to be fruitful and without prejudice. But we discovered that we touched upon the magic of life, and such beauty should be left to discover by our own.
For long I felt this was the case, and with a lot of help from my friends I saw that my hopes were remnants of the old me. The logical, solution focused part in me that wanted a grip on life and the insecurities it brings. But our vulnerabilities are what binds us. They are not to be waved away with a magic wand.

Thank you my friends!