Rich Foss on the DSC Call

Rich Foss spoke and fielded questions on Aprils First Tuesdays call. Could some of you who were on the call leave comments about it? Particularly what was helpful to you on the call and anything you're thinking about or processing because of it. Thanks.

An old collaborative project

Untitled from Jonathan A Reuel on Vimeo.

Just found this old video from a collaborative project a bunch of Dandelion Seed people did for fun one weekend, thought I'd post it as a reminder of how getting together can spark creativity.

Start thinking about the Dandelion Seed Company. Think about if there's someone you'd like to invite, someone who needs to be there. It's going to be a good year, an important year, and year of transition. More soon.

Keith speaks at last year's DSC

Wasted or Worth It - Keith Spurgin from Dandelion Seed Co on Vimeo.

Saturday Morning, Last Year's DSC

Saturday Morning Session from Dandelion Seed Co on Vimeo.

Plans and Dreams for 2011 Conference

Not exactly sure, but I think we've done 9 of these conferences now. Plus a bunch of small local gatherings. Now we're gearing up for DSC 2011 in Indiana. While nothing is for sure yet, here's some of what we're

Tentatively planning:
- The Fikes and Paul Grout bringing themselves and their ideas. DSC wouldn't exist without these people, and they'll help us move into the next decade.
- Organizational/personal development and identity work with the Fikes.
- Training, networking and hanging out at Quaker Haven.

Dreaming:
- More local groups sprouting up across the country and beyond caught with the call to grow community, cultivate creativity and follow Jesus. Maturation or healthy ends for established groups.
- New increasingly excellent and creative projects.
- Integration of life and vision. Non DSC spouses and families feeling welcome and catching the vision.
- Entering deeper into the stillness of knowing Christ, anchoring ourselves there and from that - root our lives extending as a gift of love, beauty and hope to others in new ways.
- Discovering new ideas relevant to the areas that matter most to us. And God alone knows what that means for each of us and for us as a loose network of people strewn across this hemisphere like tacks on the floor or stars in the midnight sky.
- Seeing people escape situations, habits and fears that have kept them from living creatively, finding community and following Jesus freely.


The Dandelion Seed Company is a loose network of people called to the crossroads of Art, Faith and Relationship. Sometimes our job is to just stand there. Other times we yell and let people know these roads actually meet. We're building tents and setting them up near the crossroads -- tents big enough for visitors and refugees but light enough to move when it's time.

Great First Tuesdays Call

The first of our First Tuesdays conference call went great. After vision and announcements by Adam and Jonathan, Ben shared about growth and challenges in his life and work over the last six months. Jonathan shared how “practicing the presence” over the last couple weeks has both brought freedom from fear and exposed hidden fears and anger in his life.

Questions and conversation followed, with comments from a variety of people. It was good to hear and learn from each other. We all have things to think about and practice.

Some Where To From Here ideas:
1. Try doing it (practicing the presence of God) over the next few weeks. See what happens. All the theory in the world is no good without real world experiments and personal experience.

2. Read “the Practice of the Presence of God” available here...

3. Triangulate by studying a related subject at the same time (this is something Ben suggested on the call). A couple ideas for related practices/concepts: 1. abiding (John 15 concept), 2. meditation, 3. Worship, 4. monastic hours. See how your growth in practicing the presence benefits from cross-pollination with a related idea/discipline.

Communication, Giving, Movement

Regular Communication.
Generous Giving.
Clear Movement.

RC: We're a network with aspirations to be movement-like. That only works if we communicate. It happens some naturally. To become what we long to become it must happen more intentionally.

GG: We've spent a lot of our ten years frustrated -- at ourselves, our circumstances, at the lack of resources, at the challenge of living out this creative call. One of the things that will get our heads out of our hmmm, and move us forward will be giving. There's a lot of desperate needs and we get the huge privilege of being part of meeting a few of those. We may not have what we think we need, but we have something, so lets give.

CM: To get from the IDEA of growing community, cultivating creativity and following Jesus to the reality of a grassroots movement we must find the path that includes 1. our continual growth (sacrifice and strain followed by profound rest -- rinse, repeat) and 2. our inviting others to walk with us towards this goal, and 3. encouraging, challenging, training and equipping others with what we've learned or been given.

First Tuesdays

We're starting First Tuesdays at DSC! These are conference calls designed to challenge, inspire, encourage and equip participants in one or more aspects of our mission (Cultivate Creativity. Grow Community. Follow Jesus). All calls will include a brief description of DSC's vision, a short update from a DSC member, input from a speaker and time for questions and interaction.

The first one is January 4, 8:30pm EST. It's about Brother Lawrence, the Barefoot Carmelite monk known for "practicing the presence of God."

Next Month DIANA GONZALEZ will be speaking on something relevant. It will be a real privilege to have her with us. She's one of the most interesting speakers you'll ever hear. Feb. 1, 8:30pm.

Living our vision

We’ve been clear for some time that we’re about following Jesus, growing community, and cultivating creativity. It’s time to make that practical in some new ways. As the DSC we need to not just talk about this or even live it on our own (many of us are doing those things in our own lives and communities) but we need to keep intentionally growing and also equipping and training others.

I’m convinced that after years of serious work and sacrifice, mistakes and learnings we have something to share if we’ll take the time to look past ourselves, ask God for direction, and look for opportunities to serve. Most of our communities have isolated creative people in them who need community, need resources to help them develop community, and have never been exposed to the call of Jesus in a way that speaks to them in their language/mindset/framework. We’re just normal people, but I believe we can make a difference in small and big ways.

Some of that difference will come through our songs, videos, paintings, books, blogs and photographs. Some of it will come through conversations with God and people. Some of it will come as we step forward more intentionally towards this three part goal, and invite others to come along with us as we grow.

DSC News

People from Segue in Texas recently put on a creativity workshop with some DSC help. They targeted serious or professional artists (of whatever medium) and had three speakers address the theme "Obstacles." A spoken word artist, a partner in an artist management company and DSC founder addressed the questions:
-What do you do when you are confronted with obstacles?
-How do you overcome them?
-What do you do once you have overcome them?

DSC Millersburg, a group established in partnership with Living Acts (an intentional community house associated with a local church) has been meeting weekly since last spring. Their Thursday night dandelion seed meeting includes sharing recent work and giving feedback. This group is led by Carrie, a veteran of the Charlottesville Project (a 5 year experiment in creativity and community that sponsored DSC events and invested heavily in the DSC vision to grow community, cultivate creativity and follow Jesus). It’s a well-attended group meeting a real need for creativity-focused interaction and friendship in a rural part of Ohio. To learn more, check out Carrie’s blog.

The first Epic Life Studios Internship in Goshen (brainchild of Adam and Megan Fleming) is in full swing. Anna P has been working at personal and creative growth in the context of community and coaching since early fall, and has found the experience profoundly valuable. The Flemings have been developing arts coaching models and practices for several years now and are excited about how the internship has provided the space for people to step back, reflect, be transformed and catapulted forward towards their calling and life purpose.

Video and twitter

We posted a video from the conference. It's a helpful talk about the action-reflection cycle by Rich Meyer. You can find out more on our twitter account.

Our Three Part Mission

We have a 3 part mission: we're called to cultivate creativity, follow Jesus, and grow community. We're called to bring these three things together, to live out that mission in real life and encourage/release others who are also called to those three things. We do this through gatherings and projects: weekend gatherings, phone calls, conferences, collaborative projects, training weeks, internships, emergent/missional microchurch plants, etc, etc.

We are not a replacement for church (except when, like with the Charlottesville Project, where we are clearly planting a local church). And in those situations, we are replacing other churches, but bringing another expression of church to the table.

We're not an alternative to college (although we do some training and are interested in alternative learning models).

We're not bingo night, small group or the local bar (although people do find community at the gatherings).

Dandelion Seed people need to be connected to other institutions that will challenge them and take them farther/deeper in each of these areas (creativity, Jesus, community). Some people and institutions need the Dandelion Seed Co to expand their perspective and resource them in ways that they are not equipped to.

It's been a journey to embrace this 3 part mission -- at various times we've talked about dropping one or two parts of it so we could go deeper and be more effective at one thing. Over time, however, we've begun to see the value in establishing a group that embodies this tri-call (creativity, Jesus, community), even if it means the group can't go as deep into any one area. Here's some reasons:

- For some people who are committed to Christ/mission/church but who feel the lack of understanding/prioritization of the arts, it has been very helpful to interact with a community committed to Jesus and creativity. In some cases people connected with the DSC have started to fruitfully use their creative gifts and relationship-building skills in their churches and/or communities. Interaction with the DSC helped them recognize the call: somehow their art got connected with Jesus in a deeper way, and the community provided encouragement to move ahead which then later bore fruit in other contexts -- churches, galleries, bars, classrooms, businesses, etc.

- It could be helpful to people in the arts world who need to connect with a community who values what they value, but also emphasizes community and is focused on Jesus.

- It could be good for people who have friends but wish for more of a sense of purpose/direction to connect with a group that finds that following Jesus, cultivating creative gifts and building deep relationships.

Why we share, how we share

Here's my take on the Why we Share, How we share questions:

Why we share:
1. To learn to be vulnerable (with people and God -- they are connected).
2. To get to know each other better, to build deeper relationships/community.
3. To learn to listen. To be heard. Encouragement.
4. To invite God into the situation and/or recognize His work in it in new ways.
5. To get outside perspective and see things we can't see alone.
(The picture of the "body of Christ" in Ephesians is a great image for a number of these ideas -- life and health comes from connection in the body and with Jesus individually and corporately).

How we share:
1. We try to listen and accept people without judging them. This doesn't mean we agree with all their choices or ideas or pretend that nothing is wrong when it is, but we are called to love first (and often this means being slow to speak and quick to listen).
2. We pray for each other. We believe (and have seen) that inviting God into situations and peoples' lives can make a difference, and is one way of loving each other and following Jesus.
3. Emotion is ok.
4. We will brainstorm and problem-solve with people if they want, but don't assume that can or should always follow sharing. We can't fix everything but we want to bring our resources to the table for growth, healing and mission.

What do you think? What other benefits or dangers do you see from having this as such a big emphasis?

Sharing

In our network we spend a lot of time sharing -- hearing peoples' stories, thoughts, struggles, dreams, etc. For example, in Goshen a couple weeks ago we ended up ditching 2/3rds of our agenda to make space for relationships to grow with new people (translate: sharing).

As I connect with other groups I'm realizing that we emphasize sharing more than most, and we do it in a certain way. While we overdo it sometimes, I think it's a very important aspect of who we are and are called to be as a network.

While we practice sharing pretty consistently, we don't always know why we do it. So, while we will grow from practice and repetition, it would help us to periodically step back and think about what we are doing and why.

So what do you think:

Why do you share?

How do you share? What are your "sharing values?" What assumptions do you have about how to treat people and God during sharing?

What do we really want?

In a recent post I said we're working at getting honest about where we're at and challenging people at all levels bring their perspective to bear on the challenges at hand.

So what are these challenges?

Well, there's always the felt needs and the deeper, hidden ones. Here's my take on both:

Felt needs:
1. To be more successful in our art.
2. To make a living doing our art.
3. To find new and better ways of developing community among people who follow Jesus.
4. To change culture.
5. To find new ideas.
6. To connect with famous and powerful people.

Underlying motivations:
1. To feel valuable, validated, important because we've accomplished something of significance.
2. To create something beautiful, meaningful, challenging and impacting.
3. To feel accepted, appreciated, challenged and part of something worth being a part of.

Let's be honest with God and each other about what we're really wanting -- about these underlying motivations. Let's be willing to live in the tension of the reality. Instead of focusing on success and money and the great and powerful, can we live today before God with the ache for significance, beauty and acceptance that we feel? If we will, I believe God will meet us in our need and transform us, our art, our relationships, and our culture in the process. But we can't skip out of the pain of longing by thinking that money, success or comfort will satisfy us. That is an illusion that Christ shattered with his words, his actions and his death.

Leadership Defended

I had a good talk with Bryan* recently and he challenged me about the Top Down Leadership post. He said something like "It's easy to set up a straw man that everyone hates and tear it down, but there's just as many problems with avoiding leadership as there are with bad leadership."

I think he's right.

Another friend recently told me that authority and responsibility are connected. This guy spent some time in the military. He said that while people are respected and honored for the their rank and titles, the people with real authority and those who have direct responsibility to lead you (translate: serve, direct, inspire).

I think part of what I was trying to get at with the Top Down Leadership post, is that often as leaders we forget or get confused about what our responsibility is (to raise vision, challenge people to become who they were made to be, serve, humble ourselves, be transparent and willing to be changed). And as followers we make similar mistakes regarding leadership -- we expect leaders to make our lives work, or we just want them out of our hair, when they are really there to help us become what we are called to be and want to be, but are just a little too afraid, discouraged, lazy or trapped to become by ourselves. The leader should bring a context to grow into those things in, and the challenge to grow.

* http://smalltallmusings.blogspot.com/

Are you Dandelion Seed Company?

Well, have you been practicing creativity? Are you following Jesus? Are you growing meaningful, transparent relationships? If so, then you're living like the company.

The Dandelion Seed Company is a network of relationships. It's organic and grassroots (translate: things happen when people get ideas and act on them). As a Dandelion Seed Co leader, I get really excited when I hear about people in our network pushing out the very things we're called to be and do as a group. These projects and events don't need to be "officially" DSC events for the Dandelion Seeds to be spreading and taking root.

Here are some examples of grassroots DSC activities that have been happening:
- a while back the DAM group (Dandelion Artists of Michiana) were asking each other questions each week about how they were living out their mission (Questions like "Have you done something creative this week?" or "How have you practically followed Jesus this week?").
- Members of the Charlottesville Project have supported each other's concerts, even collaborating a bit with songs and art (a recent concert included art by Christa and Carrie, music by Annie, Kimberly, Jonathan and Carrie). We've also had discussions about the message of Jesus, and what God is doing in our lives.
- Grant Beachy recently put together an amazing project to raise money for the Window in Goshen, the Live at the Brew series. This had nothing officially to do with the DSC, but it's the sort of thing we're about, and it incorporated music, design, community building and desire to help those in need.
- At the beginning of the month people from the Magi Tribe in Asheville, Goshen, MI, and VA went to a U2 concert together. The discussions are still going on from that experience -- discussions about calling, spirituality, creativity, scale, mission.

There's a lot more examples, and maybe you are more of a Dandelion Seed than you thought -- or you may be realizing you've got seeds (of creative projects or gatherings) that it's time to throw into the wind or plant. Do it!

Top Down Leadership and this blog

I believe the future of the DSC is hidden in the "latent dna" of the people who are connected to it. In other words, if we're going to become a grassroots movement that changes people and culture, it will happen because the seeds that are in us are watered and grow, and take root in the ground of now.

In top down leadership mode, the leader controls communication, makes sure that everything that is seen or heard publicaly is spun in such a way that the "company" looks good.

In contrast, we're working at getting honest about where we're at and challenging people at all levels bring their perspective to bear on the challenges at hand.

One thing that needs to change is that the vision needs to become simple and clear, and we need to begin to recognize both how we're living that vision now, and how we're falling short of it (so we can grow and change). Follow Jesus. Practice Creativity. Develop Community.


The vision is in each of us, and will come out in a different way in each individual. We'll discover who we are as we bring our piece into the public sphere.

Top Down Leadership and Jesus

I've been reading about new models of leadership based on recent scientific theories about how the world works. I'll get more technical about it later. Read "Surfing the Edge of Chaos" if you're interested in the concepts.

Here's two different ways to think about how leadership functions:
1. The leader is at the top of the organization. They bring the vision which then filters down through the ranks. The leaders create buy in and motivate people to do the things that will move the vision forward. In this model the leader is responsible to bring the vision, the plan, the strategy and the motivation (positive and negative) to carry it out. People excel by doing what they're told and being loyal.
2. The organization is an organic unit, full of varied and untapped intelligence and potential. There is latent dna in each member which, given the right conditions, can bring incremental growth. The leader's job is to create a context in which peoples' creativity will come out, and this latent dna is discovered and embodied in real ways. This usually means moving closer to chaos which causes each person to creatively engage the issues at hand. The leader "holds the collective feet to the fire," meaning that they keep the people in the tension and discomfort of the real situation until creative solutions emerge from within (rather than from the top down).

As I've been reading this stuff I've recognized a lot of top down assumptions that I still carry and am working at allowing God to transform. I've also reflected on some times that I or other leaders I know have been willing to face the tension and call others to face it as well -- and have seen the creative fruit and effectiveness of activated people.

I believe the DSC is uniquely positioned to become more of an organic unit where grassroots change happens. I'm convinced our loose network of relationships can become part of a powerful, culture-changing movement if we don't run from the struggle but allow ourselves together to face the chaos and look deeper in side ourselves, each other and Jesus to discover our message, mission and creative approaches, solutions and projects.

Jonathan

Two Questions

What are your thoughts about/answers to these questions? Let's tap the "distributed intelligence" of this network:

1. What differences has following Jesus made to you (think specific, think story)?

2. What was/is the message of Jesus?