DragonDreaming eBook englis (PDF)

... ... ... ... italiano français 中文 dansk תירבע polski srpski deutsch português русский latviešu español slovenščina english ... ... ... ... ... polski srpski deutsch português русский latviešu español slovenščina english תירבע français ... ... jc Project Design DRAGON DREAMING Project Design VERSION 2.09 english  // We live in interesting and challenging time. Massive climate changes are likely, the world’s population is growing rapidly, an economy built on debt, and not on savings, is producing austerity for billions of people, loss of biodiversity threatens the survival of millions of species – you’ve heard it all before. Given this reality we have two choices. Firstly, we can wait until the consequen- ces of these changes are upon us and try to cope as best we can during the crises. Or we can act now, building our resilience and adaptive capacity, prepa- ring in advance and do the best we can to ensure a more positive outcome. Paul Hawken in»Blessed Unrest«speaks of a massive international movement of civil society, an intersection of the ecology, civil rights and participatory democracy movements that spans the globe. This movement – unforeseen and leaderless – is literally the activation of the planetary immune system seeking to build a future that works for all. Dragon Dreaming is a part of this movement and aims to be of»Service to the Earth«, contributing to a positive human presence on the planet. We also live in a very individualized time, and while this has a lot of positive effects, it also drives us into isolation. However when facing the challenges mentioned above, we need to be sup- porting each other as much as we can. This is why Dragon Dreaming also focuses on»Community Building«. Thirdly we like to live our lives within ThE PhIlOsOPhy The philosophy of Dragon Dreaming draws upon indigenous wisdom of the Aborigines of Western Australia and is based on three, equally important objectives: Service to the Earth, Community Building, Personal Growth // We live in interesting and challenging time. Massive climate changes are likely, the world’s population is growing rapidly, an economy built on debt, and not on savings, is producing austerity for billions of people, loss of biodiversity threatens the survival of millions of species – you’ve heard it all before. Given this reality we have two choices. Firstly, we can wait until the consequen- ces of these changes are upon us and try to cope as best we can during the crises. Or we can act now, building our resilience and adaptive capacity, prepa- ring in advance and do the best we can to ensure a more positive outcome. Paul Hawken in»Blessed Unrest«speaks of a massive international movement of civil society, an intersection of the ecology, civil rights and participatory democracy movements that spans the globe. This movement – unforeseen and leaderless – is literally the activation of the planetary immune system seeking to build a future that works for all. Dragon Dreaming is a part of this movement and aims to be of»Service to the Earth«, contributing to a positive human presence on the planet. We also live in a very individualized time, and while this has a lot of positive effects, it also drives us into isolation. However when facing the challenges mentioned above, we need to be sup- porting each other as much as we can. This is why Dragon Dreaming also focuses on»Community Building«. Thirdly we like to live our lives within ThE PhIlOsOPhy The philosophy of Dragon Dreaming draws upon indigenous wisdom of the Aborigines of Western Australia and is based on three, equally important objectives: Service to the Earth, Community Building, Personal Growth ISBN: Google → „dragon dreaming project design book isbn“ PAGE 2 language You can also change the language. To change the language please go to the cover page, and click on the language, that suits you most. We are continuously working on new translations. If there is no translation to your language yet and you are interested in translating this E-Book, we would be most delighted. We already set up a procedure for this. For further details please get in touch with [email protected] Dedication This E-Book is dedicated to all those who do not abandon their dreams and dare to dance with their dragons! This book falls under the Creative Commons License, i.e. it can be used and multiplied for non-commercial purposes if the authors are credited. If you seek to modify its contents or use it for other pur- poses than building projects or organizations using these principles, please seek permission and let the authors know. Remember that Dragon Dreaming is a work in progress: Dragon Dreaming has emerged from the work of the Gaia Foundation in Western Australia. Dra- gon Dreamers from Brazil to Russia and from Canada to the Congo are part of a learning, living community, where everyone is doing their best. This e-book is just part of the developing body of information about Dragon Dreaming. If you want to help us make our dreams come true and help the Dragon Dreaming community grow and pass on the work – get in touch. So there you have it: 100 percent of your dreams can come true. We hope that this little guide can help you get started with whatever dream awaits you – we wish you a lot of fun and learning experiences. Remember, if it‘s not fun, it’s not sustai- nable! Go, Dragon Dreamer! If you wish to support the Dragon Dreaming Community by a donation, please visit http://www.dragondreaming.org/about-us/become-involved/ Click here for Black-and-white version: print-friendly Click here for colored version: screen-friendly how to handle the multilingual E-Book? To make this E-Book as usefull as possible for you, we made it interactive. This means, that you have certain options of how the e-book looks like. For using all functions of the multilingual e-Book Version, please use a free professional PDF „Adobe Reader“!  PAGE 3 Imprint The work at this e-book began in the spring of 2012 with the writing of Ilona Koglin in co-operation with Manuela Bosch, Angel Hernandez and Florian Mül- ler. It was concluded in summer 2013 in co-operation with John Croft, Catriona Blanke and Ilona Koglin, integrating the writings of Monica Prado (Mandakini Dasi) of Juiz de Fora (Brazil) in co-operation with Bernadette Otto of Penticton (Canada). Our special thanks go to John Croft, the Co-creator of Dragon Drea- ming, upon whose thoughts and ideas this book is based. Authors: Catriona Blanke, John Croft, Mandakini Dasi (Monica Prado), Ilona Koglin Support: Manuela Bosch, Angel Hernandez, Florian Müller, Bernadette Otto, Technical Enhancements: Matthias Brück Illustrations: Wiebke Koch Cover Image: Luiza Padoa Layout: Ilona Koglin Translations: slovenščino - Barbara Dovjak, Lara Kastelic & Nara Petrovič; es- pañol - Teresa Fernandez, Juliana Simoes, Daniela Pereira, Julia Ramos & Luna Marcén; latviešu - Rūta Kronberga; русский - Anton Tofilyuk & Sasha Bezrodnova; português - Rita Tojal,Teresa Silva, Marta Duarte,Pedro Ferreira, Njiza Costa & Virgílio Varela; deutsch - Catriona Blanke, Uli Bostelmann, Diemut Kostrzewa, Marcella von der Weppen & Marion Wiesler; srpski - Dubravka Simonović; polski - Robert Palusiński, Andrze- ja Ciechulskiego Adama Kamińskiego, Agnieszki Jurko, Karola Jurczyka, Jerzego Kolarzowskiego & Aleksandra Piecucha;ירמת םעונ ,יונ רורד ,ישי לבוי - תירִבע; françai- se: Nathalie Sinthes, Pascale Pluton, Eric Sanner, Hubert Boutin, Renaud Darnet; »The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams«, Eleanor Roosevelt For more information on Dragon Dreaming as well as a list of trainers and other useful insights please visit www.dragondreaming.org  PAGE 4 The Philosophy page 4 Aha-Moments page 5 Dream Time page 5 The Songlines page 6 The Win-Win Games page 6 Communication page 7 Generative Questions page 7 Pinakarri page 8 Charismatic Communication page 9 The Project Wheel page 10 Crossing The Tresholds page 10 The Four Characters page 11 Exercise: Which Type am I? page 12 Dreaming page 13 The Dream Team page 13 The Dream Circle page 14 The Talking Piece page 15 TABlE Of CONTENTs Planning page 16 Setting the Objectives page 17 Building the project goal page 18 The Karabirrdt page 18 Tasks And Responsibilities page 20 Time And Budget page 20 The Testing page 21 The Great Resistor page 22 Doing page 23 12 Supervising Questions page 24 Celebration page 25 Mastery Learning page 26 Awareness of Feelings in a Group page 27 Succession Planning page 28 The 11th Hour Prophecy of a Hopi Elder page 28  PAGE 5 // We live in interesting and challenging time. Massive climate changes are likely, the world’s population is growing rapid- ly, an economy built on debt, and not on savings, is producing austerity for billions of people, loss of biodiversity threatens the survival of millions of spe- cies – you’ve heard it all before. Given this reality we have two choices. Firstly, we can wait until the consequen- ces of these changes are upon us and try to cope as best we can during the crises. Or we can act now, building our resilience and adaptive capacity, prepa- ring in advance and do the best we can to ensure a more positive outcome. Paul Hawken in »Blessed Unrest« speaks of a massive international movement of civil society, an intersection of the ecology, civil rights and participatory democracy movements that spans the globe. This movement – unforeseen and leaderless – is literally the activation of the plane- tary immune system seeking to build a future that works for all. Dragon Dre- aming is a part of this movement and aims to be of »Service to the Earth«, contributing to a positive human pre- sence on the planet. We also live in a very individualized time, and while this has a lot of positi- ve effects, it also drives us into isolation. However when facing the challenges mentioned above, we need to be sup- porting each other as much as we can. This is why Dragon Dreaming also focu- ses on »Community Building«. Thirdly we like to live our lives within  PAGE 6 our comfort zone. You might be familiar with it: That zone where we know our way and we deal most preferably with those people we feel comfortable with. Here we feel safe. But we can only learn by moving outside our comfort zone. This is where »The Dragons« lie waiting, and where the name Dragon Dreaming comes from. The Dragons represent our troubles, our fears and uncertainties, those people in our lives we may have difficulties with. If we manage to cross our own boundaries, we learn how to »dance with our dragons« – we can em- power ourselves more and more to dis- cover our own strengths and skills. And so Dragon Dreaming aims for the third objective »Personal Growth«. Aha-Moments Maximizing creativity The moments when we discover so- mething we did not know, are wonder- ful. Even more wondrous are the mo- ments when we discover something of which we did not even know that we did not know it: so called Aha-moments. They generally arise when we have dis- covered or understood something new. They can also appear when we find new connections between things we already knew. In any case an Aha-Moment leads to a new perception of some aspect of the world. As a result we have become aware. Aha-moments are highly infectious. One person sharing their Aha-moments increase the chances that others too can discover something that they did not know what they did not know. Sharing »Aha’s« in a group can lead to creati- ve solutions to common problems. As a Dragon Dreamer practice the skill of generative questioning, it will open up a new world for you. Different people have different experiences in gaining Aha-moments. Maximize you Aha-mo- ments by: » Being in touch with nature » Being in touch with different realities, people, contexts » Traveling into different cultures » Observing and reflecting » Listening deeply to the words of others » Seeking signs, visible and invisible » Connecting with your dreams, visions » Meditation » Focusing deeply on a problem and then doing something very different Dragon Dreaming is all about getting things safely out of control. Dream Time The Aboriginal concept of time The modern world view is based upon the belief that time is collective and ob- jectively a linear process, traveling from past, through the present, to the future. Within this view, dreaming is seen as a subjective individual process, devoid of reality. Amongst many indigenous cul- tures, including traditional Australian Aboriginal culture, dreaming is seen as a collective and objective experience. This prospective allows us access to in- terpersonal creativity and a deeper un- derstanding. In this view, nothing is se- parate: everything is a temporary node in a process of flow. As an Aboriginal proverb states, »We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love... and then we return home to country.« This means that everything is possible and that when working with the concept of Dream Time, we are wor- king with the side of ourselves which  PAGE 7 The Aboriginal Concept of Dream Time. Eve- rything is a temporary node in a process of flow. has access to the collective intelligence. This view also suggests that all of us are caught in the present on a bridge between where we have come from and where we are going. For some, the bridge is narrow and easy to cross, and for others it is deep and threatening. This bridge is held in story – a story we create moment by moment, building the stones of the bridge as we travel. This creates an explanation of our lives – of where we began, of the important lessons from key events of our lives and illustrates where we feel we are going: the songline. The songlines Why Projects are important The Noongar Aboriginal people belie- ve that everything begins with the karl: The yellow fire, in the infancy of the morning sun. The karlup is the hearth, the fireplace, where people gather to share dreams, to tell stories, to make decisions and plan activities, and to celebrate at the end of the day. Part of this sharing was through song – such as passing on directions about impor- tant landmarks. This is where the name »songlines« comes from. These songlines give purpose and meaning to our lives. In this way our life can be seen as a project with important »landmarks« and songlines in between. Thus it is the projects we engage in throughout our lives, that give it purpo- se and meaning. The Win-Win-Games The End of the Win-Lose-Culture Civilization as we understand it is based upon a certain view of the world. Through our language of subjects (ac- tive) and objects (passive) we see the world as comprising things over which we believe we have power and control. This is a view that divides everything into separate categories: The ones have power over the others. This – in short – creates Win-Lose-Games and violent hierarchy, which we usually take for the only possible way of how things work. Engaging with the environment me- ans we are engaging with a living world of which we too are a part. To believe we can take control of this world through »power over« is human myth, an ego- tism which will lead to frustration and heartbreak. We cannot control the pro- cess of flow of energy, matter, informati- on and chaos or entropy in which we are embedded. Aboriginal tradition sug- gests that nothing is separate too – and science is proving this over and over. However we can have power »with« these flows. That means that we can work with anything and anyone – always trying to figure out how to create Win- Win-Games. In order to do that we need to make ourselves vulnerable – we need to try and always see the other side. The side of a resistor to our project, the side of a situation that we have presumptions and prejudice around. By practicing this new sort of game, we open up endless possibilities that were not there before. Win-Lose-Games are unsustainable. If we truly seek a sustaining culture, Win- Win-Games become essential.  PAGE 8 COMMUNICATION When using Dragon Dreaming, it is good to be aware that we are striving for the creation of new paradigms and a new culture. We need to regain the ability to deeply listen, listen to what the Earth is telling us, listen to each other and listen to ourselves. // Dragon Dreaming aims to create a new language, based on the concept of Win-Win, replacing, wherever possible, that based upon Win-Lose-Games (or even Lose-Lose-Games). And as with many skills – the more we practice the better we get... Very often, projects will fail because of non-existent or malfunc- tioning communication. But there are various ways of communication which help to realize dreams as well as solve and prevent conflicts. Generative Questions Ask for emotional power A Generative Question is a question that has emotional power in the life of both the questioner and the person questioned. Generally it aims to uncover what is missing, the presence of which would make a difference. It is an open invitation to engage with what we do not know. It occurs through an open- ended reflective question uncovering a deeper reality. The way we work together in our pro- jects is hugely influenced by the way we communicate and listen to each other. Generative questions are central to Dra- gon Dreaming, so please feel encoura- ged developing your capacity of crea- ting and asking generative questions. To help you with this, we have placed examples throughout this E-Book…  PAGE 9 Pinakarri About Deeper Listening Pinakarri is the Aboriginal word for Deeper Listening. We have mostly lost the skill of empathically listening to each other and have developed a way of mainly listening to a little voice in the head which keeps making win-lose judgments. This voice is very distracting and makes us forget faster: most peo- ple are – for instance – able to concen- trate for approximately 20 minutes on conceptual theories, before the voice starts talking, making it difficult for us to truly listen. Pinakarri gently silences this little voice. Every Dragon Dreaming participant can call for a Pinakarri at any given time. You can ring a bell or some other sort of signal which has been agreed upon. At the signal everyone will stop what they are saying or doing, and remain silent for a short while. It is up to the indivi- dual how deeply they will relax, but it is important that everyone remains silent for a moment. The purpose behind this practice is to overcome certain aspects of human behavior. On one hand Pina- karri helps people who are currently in conflict to overcome inner blockages. We tend to stick more and more with a point of view, the more someone else argues against it. And it often does not make any difference at all whether the other person might be right. By taking short breaks of Pinakarri we get the chance of »cooling down«. Pinakarri is also helpful to double check what we really want. In silence we can listen to what is going on inside us and see whether this or that point is still important to us – or whether we have lost touch with the original dream, our wishes and needs in order to be right or not to lose face. To stand up for our wishes and needs is just as important as »cooling down«. If we suppress our dreams and needs we will always have a feeling of deficiency. And that feeling will come back every now and again, and might be a real danger for our pro- ject. It prevents true diversity, which is a necessity for true learning and success. A little guide to Pinakarri Calm yourself and connect with your body: 1. Feel where your body connects with the chair or cushion you are sitting on 2. Feel the weight of your body: Notice your weight and how the earth sup- ports it. This gravity is the oldest force in the universe. If this was a person supporting you, you would call it unconditional love. Become aware of the unconditional love of the Earth for you, the support it gives you. 3. Breathe deeply – in and out: Hear the difference in tone and feel the diffe- rence in temperature between the in-breath and the out-breath. This diffe- rence in temperature comes from the sun. Who are you? You are the dance of the material cycles of the Earth with the energy of the sun. 4. Can you hear the drumbeat of your heart? This has been with you since before you were born and will be with you until the moment of your death. 5. Find the point where the tension or energy in your body is strongest. Brea- the into that spot, consciously relax and breathe out the tension. 6. You have now silenced the little voice in your head. There are many ways to achieve Pinakarri. Feel invited to experiment and find your own. Hint: As with Pinakarri, there are many ways of presencing yourself and speaking charismatically. Hints can be found in the works of Non-Violent Communication, Theory U by Otto Scharmer, and Facilitation as a spiritual practice of John Herron, as well as Community Building according to M. Scott Peck.  PAGE 10 based on trust – the trust that we can share our feelings and dreams without being laughed at. Our everyday com- munication acts like a shield: We hide behind facts and judgments. And yet if we really open up we can give people a chance to truly see us and our projects. We are used to communicating our ideas in a way that is influenced by the little voice in our head wondering »What do I want to say? What is of im- portance to me?« Often we are unaware of our words transmitting a subtle win- lose game of admiration or contempt for other persons, or even dominance or repression. We are preoccupied with interpreting what others are saying, and what the »true meaning« of their words might be… In Dragon Dreaming we are using our intuition to allow the project to speak through us. This is Charismatic Commu- nication. We recommend you practice Charismatic Communication in as many circumstances as possible; i.e. it helps when speaking to big audiences or do- ing workshops… The imbalance of dominance and repression can often be found in pro- ject groups: a few »top dogs« taking up most of the talking time and pushing their ideas and interests. Pinakarri can help us to overcome our tendency of dominance and repression and thus be- coming authentic and real. It can help us to become human beings who live »love in action». And it can help us crea- te a loving community in which every individual is heard and seen. When in- troducing Pinakarri, be aware that it may take a while for people to adjust to using it. Charismatic Communication Win-Win-Language Charismatic Communication is the att- empt to say what really wants to be said from deep inside. It works similar to au- tomatic writing. All we have to do is to turn off the little voice in our head. This often takes a lot more courage than we think. Charismatic Communication is how to communicate charismatically Trust that it is truly safe to say what we really think Practice the following with two people facing each other and sharing pro- jects they are doing or might seek to do. They do so in the way they would normally. After this, they use Charismatic Communication and tell of their project once more. By doing this they allow their projects to speak through themselves… Do not forget to debrief and share what has been noticed. 1. Practice Pinakarri; sit upright and close your eyes. Breathe in deeply. Brea- thing deeply helps you to get rid of fear and tension. Become aware where you are connected with the earth (through your feet). Feel how your spine connects you with the sky. 2. Move your attention from your head to just below your navel; this is your Hara, the center of balance. 3. Using your imagination visualize the bubble of personal space which sur- rounds every person you are speaking to. Now visualize your own bubble; size, shape and color. Now make the bubble expand in size until it finally em- braces, holds and lovingly supports the bubble of those you are speaking to. 4. Imagine the sense of presence you want to create in the person you are speaking to. What tone of voice do you need to create that presence? 5. Using that particular tone of voice, and practicing the other four steps simultaneously, let the words flow…  PAGE 11 ThE PROJECT-WhEEl The encounter between an initial individual and his/her environment, as well as between practice and theory creates two interfaces and four quadrants that every project shows: Dreaming, Planning, Doing and Celebrating. The pattern of the Dragon Dreaming Wheel is also found in ecological systems, in the formation of weather, in the Native American Medicine Wheel and even within our bodies; it is the structure which we carry in our brain. One symbolic aspect amongst many is the analogy to the four seasons (winter, spring, summer, autumn), as well as the four phases in the life of a human being (childhood, youth, middle age, old age). Also each day can be depicted by this wheel: Beginning with dreaming, the early morning planning, the doing and – if a person is wise – a celebration in the evening. Individual Environment Theory Praxis Dreaming Planning Doing Celebrating Awareness Motivation Gather Information Considering Alternatives Designing Strategies Testing/ Prototyping Implementation Administration & Management Monitoring Progess Acquiring New Skills Transforming Results Discerning Wisdom // Every project is an encounter bet- ween an initial individual and his or her environment. One influences the other in a reciprocal process. It also is an en- counter between practice and theory, integrating both. Through the place- ment of these interfaces, four quadrants are created, characterizing the four dif- ferent stages of a project: Dreaming, Planning, Doing and Celebrating. The Dragon Dreaming Wheel is depicting this process. Crossing The Thresholds Interfaces of Communication The interfaces are organs of communi- cation, not rigid axis of separation. And they can move depending on the stage and/or group doing a project. Someti- mes one side will dominate, sometimes the other. Projects are of a fractal nature. This means that in each of the four qua- drants the dreaming, planning, doing, celebrating can be found. Dragon Dreaming projects can only be sustainable when we process through each of these stages in each quadrant. So each quadrant starts with a dreaming stage, moves on to planning, then has a doing stage and then, at the threshold from one quadrant to the next, there is celebration. Many of these thresholds may scare us: The crossing from dreaming into planning takes courage and a lot of energy. Especially the crossing from pl- anning into doing can be very difficult  PAGE 12 indeed, because it demands real com- mitment from everyone involved. If a project comes into a difficult phase, it is advisable to ask oneself whether the project might be at a threshold to the next stage. Celebration is an important step of crossing the various thresholds between the quadrants. In other words: every threshold from one quadrant to the next (for example from the planning to the doing) is also a step from the celebrati- on of one quadrant to the dreaming oft the next one, and thus a step out of our comfort zone. Also burnout can be pre- vented by celebrating a lot and at the right moment. Celebration is the mo- ment when we receive energy to nur- ture our ongoing process. This is what makes the project sustainable… The four Characters The Dreamer, Planer, Doer and the Celebrator Dragon Dreaming not only shows the four stages of a project, but also repre- sents four different personal characte- ristics: dreamers, planners, doers and celebrators. It is good to have a balance of all four types in your dream team. The re- ason being that a dream team made up only of planners for instance will not be as successful in sustaining the Dragon Dreaming project. Having a balanced Dream Team increases the chances the project will be realized and the people will learn new things at a deep level. At the same time it must be said, that having these four characters in a team will very probably create conflict. A dreamer might have a lot of difficul- ties working with a doer, and vice versa. The planner can find it challenging to work with the celebrator, and the other way around. In western society today, it is mostly the planners and the doers who are valued as efficient. In fact the dreamers and celebrators are also very much needed: Look for them and inclu- de them! We all have parts of all four charac- teristics in us. We change roles from situation to situation, from project to project and from one phase in our life to another. Looking at the cycle of life, babies and small children spend most of their time dreaming, youth will plan most of their time, middle aged people will do a lot, and older people will want to enjoy life and reflect on it – and thus celebrate. »Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing, there is a field – I'll meet you there«, Jalaladin Rumi  10 10 10 10 0 PAGE 13 Exercise: Which Type am I? A little exercise to get a glimpse of your team. 1. Draw a Dragon Dreaming wheel and its thresholds on the floor (Individual / Envi- ronment, Theory / Practice). Also draw them on a flip-chart or a piece of paper. Now imagine each threshold has a scale from 0 to 10, 0 being in the Centre where the thresholds cross and 10 being on the outsides. 2. Practice Pinakarri and decide on the context in which you want to find out your own position (i.e. The current project or your life as a whole). 3. Stand on the threshold connecting Individual and Environment and intuitively back and forth along this line until you find the edge of your comfort zone. How can you tell where that is? Your body will tell you! You may find that for a second you hold your breath, or you are aware of a greater tension within your body. Do this for both the Individual side and Environment side of the Threshold. The outcome does not have to be 100 percent - it is possible that someone places themselves at 9 for Individual (and thus introvert) and after that at 9 on Environment (extrovert). 4. Take the same steps again for the threshold between Theory and Practice. 5. Record the results on the flip-chart or piece of paper. Join the point you have marked on the Individual threshold to the mark on the Theory threshold, then on to the Envi- ronment threshold, from there to the Practice threshold and then back to the Indivi- dual threshold (see graph). 6. The centre of your comfort zone will map your dominant tendencies. Find this by marking half way along each of the diagonals. Now join the centre point of the diago- nal between the Environment (extroverts) and Practice threshold to the centre point between the Individual (introverts) and theory threshold, and do it similarly with the centre point of the Theory and Environment to the centre point between the Practice and Individual. The two will tend to cross inside one of the four quadrants, or some- times on a line between two quadrants. This maps the centre of your comfort zone. Individual Environment Theory Practise DREAMER PlANER DOER CElEBRATOR Centre of comfort zone  PAGE 14 // Every project that is ever done starts with the dream of an individual per- son. Often the dream may come out of a new awareness, a aha-moment. It is through the process of communicating the dream that the dreamer becomes fully aware of the nature of their dream. Most projects get blocked within the dreaming stage because people do not share their dream with others. This is the first threshold that many good project ideas never cross. In our time and age we do not trust the power of dreams any more. We are afraid of sharing our dreams in fear of being ridiculed or not listened to at all. And this is what keeps the dreams from becoming reality. The Dream Team How to choose the right people Once a person has an idea or a dream, the first step in Dragon Dreaming is therefore to share this with a group of people. Who should these people be? They can be friends, neighbors, family, work colleagues, people with special skills and/ or people from the communi- ty who may have an interest in the idea. For choosing the people it is not only important to choose people who- se skills and knowledge might help the project but that these are people you want to be with and work with. It is all about the relationships. If the project is DREAMING Every project that is ever done starts with the dream of an individual person. During a Dream Circle, this dream is enriched by the collec- tive intelligence. It becomes the dream of the whole Dream Team. The goal hereby is to make sure, that 100 percent of all dreams come true! No compromise!  PAGE 15 Watch out for Analysis Paralysis, i.e. that your Dream Team gets stuck in the de- bate over the meanings of words. Make sure, that there is a flow in the Dream Circle – this way it is an uplifting experi- ence. The Dream Circle continues until everyone in turn has passed. It is im- portant to declare the circle as finished and – of course – to celebrate! done by whoever is next to the person with the talking piece and follow the process as mentioned above. Either way the recorder writes the name of the speaker and captures the essence of what is being said. Don’t try to capture every word, just get the gist of it. Once this is written down check with the speaker that this reflects accurately what they wanted. If you find the energy falling, there is something going wrong. about a village, a city or any kind of al- ready existing community, it is wise to think about who will be affected direct- ly by the project. These people should be involved at least as supporters. If the project concerns the change of a com- munity, then it is wise to invite people with good networks and also children and youth. As the project grows, the Dream Team might grow too. If more than eight peo- ple are involved in the dreaming stage, it is better to have several dream circ- les for various smaller groups. Also, it is not necessary that everyone involved in a dream circle needs to be part of the actual realization of that dream. But ex- perience shows that people often get enthusiastic about achieving a project, once they have shared the dream. The Dream Circle No compromise! Once you have decided with whom you wish to share your dream, invite them to a Dream Circle. This is a meeting where After the initiator has presented his/her dream and explained what the project is to be about, he/she puts the dream before the team, asking a Generative Question such as: »What would this project have to be like so that afterward you can say – this was the best possible way to have spent your time?« Or: »What would enab- le you to say – yes! I am so pleased I worked on this project!?« And now everyone present answers the question in turn, perhaps using a talking piece. If someone has nothing further to add for the moment, they can pass. If someone passes, they can later add a new idea when it is their turn again. It is important in a Dream Circle that every idea is recorded. One way of doing this is to appoint a recorder to capture the ideas as they are shared. Another way is for the recording to be Remember, to make the most out of the Dream Circle: » Use a Pinakarri Bell » Use a talking piece » When writing, write the gist of the dream, not a whole paragraph » Each person adds one dream at a time » Neither be too rational nor too abstract » Relate the dream to real life » Write the dream on a beautiful piece of paper; turn it into a piece of art. » ..... how to do a Dream Circle?