Intriguing, Accessible, Invisible, Tangible

To begin with the word community has always been associated to various things in our mind and it invokes various responses and a certain definition is associated with it. However, like many other things, there may be a new paradigm which may be unique and distinct. It is intriguing because we are ourselves discovering what this community is all about. There is an intention, there is a commitment, there is a manifestation but unlike anything conventional. It is subtle. The organising principle is kind of invisible. But there is something here which is simple, organic, even playful.

Some metaphors may help to explain –

CoEvolve is like a space or maybe a dancing floor on which a variety of dances happen choreographed by the ones who are dancing. It is like an unfolding conversation which keeps deepening and widening born out of a central question “ Can we create a space or a playground where people can come together and play as and when they like and are free to choose their own game” . The community consists of people of course who lead various ventures and adventures including – ChittaSangha- India, OIA- Singapore, DRI- Hyderabad, Bhumi, Edumedia, Conscious Capitalism Institute, and others like Saraswathi Vasudevan, GD, Nithya Shanti and many more.

Some seeds are sprinkled in a farm. Some butterflies and bees carry the pollen from one place to another. Some life is born immediately. Some life is visible only after months, so A bit like a forest. Things happen. It grows. Each doing its part. An ecology in the making. The presence of a purpose in this ecology is present and yet it isn’t made distinct or something everyone had to adhere to but none could deny the underlying connection. The beauty of this community was that people were free to give it their own form. It served as clay in the hands of a potter.

Hence what has appeared here is like a poem which tries to capture the spirit of the CoEvolve community.

Spontaneous connections,
effortlessly made,
Simple conversations..
a chat here, a phone call there,
an email here, a book gifted,
an inspiring quote pulled out,
a raw insight in the moment

Emergence… like play freely unfolding,
sometimes apparently significant,
often seemingly insignificant,

Like seeds sprinkled
Some sprout now
Some later,
Maybe some never- who knows?

Profoundly enriching
Often intriguing with its
Contradictions and Paradoxes

Kind of mysterious
Because even we can’t put
our hand or head around it.
But the heart permeates ..
Palpably, if not visibly

Life blossoming, operating..
without any ‘plan’or predictable pattern –
but..
there is a thread – it seems..

An attempt to define
The best we could do
Was a poem 😉

For those among us who like a more tangible, result oriented language, here is a brief note:

Nature of how the community operates:

• Across a diversity of spaces – all related to human learning, evolution, healing, awakening, Leadership
• Creative ways to make partnerships tangible, revenue model driven are incorporated keeping the spirit of independence and interdependence at the heart of it all. The principle of fair exchange is central to any model we adopted and barter of services
• Enabling each other’s visions to come alive, to help each unravel the gold,(Enabling Great Ideas/ Possibilities to flourish). Essentially visions have been expanded and realised among the community
• Tao of Facilitation – the key vehicle and conversations.
Leveraging and enabling multiple connections to create synergy is a vital and distinctive feature. Connecting people to visions, visions to visions and people to people such that there is rapid growth and blossoming of the greatness which already exists by giving people platforms.
• Enabling synergistic connections- has been a key aspect of how this whole design is unfolding. Some of the connections result in an immediate flowering. Some take their time.
• Seeing Greatness- To be able to see profound potential in the existing ventures and people we come across and inspiring them to realise it. We are also now looking at how we can make this more tangible and workable. Perhaps providing an ‘infrastructure’ on the net, enablement through conversations and myriad ways.

This is a note that got co-created by me and Rohit S. at the Singing Hearts Ashram at Thiruvanamalai in February 2011 and in that sense has a special significance for us