Chaos, creativity, emergence

[Ria Baeck]

From Heather Plett:
I teach a course called Creative Discovery, and last night we did a fun activity that I think could be quite useful in some AoH settings. The topic of conversation for the evening was chaos, and after asking people to reflect on what chaos meant for them, we talked about the importance of chaos in times of change and community development.

I dumped a pile of items on the floor that I'd brought from my recycling bin and garbage - cardboard, styrofoam, plastic, etc. I said "this is chaos - let's see what can emerge from it." I then invited people to imagine a space in which they'd like to live that would reflect their values and passions.

It didn't take long, and they were turning the garbage into tiny bookstores, coffee shops, parks, playgrounds, bike racks, a garden market, etc. There wasn't a freeway or big box store in sight! In the end, they were so attached to it, they didn't want to throw it back in the garbage.

It was really fun to watch them co-create. Everyone worked together, and a really cool neighbourhood emerged in only an hour's time, even though nobody sat down to "plan" it.

I wrote a bit more about it on my blog: http://sophialeadership.com/2012/02/from-chaos-to-creativity/

Heather Plett

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Good to see this Heather.

This week in Utah we hosted a short improv piece with similar purpose. We stood in a circle with several resources in the middle. Cups. Coffee sticks. Instruments. Paper. Just the stuff that was in the room anyway. We invited people to offer themselves into the center to begin a charette. Use the resources in front of you. In the spirit of invitation for others to join.

It too was lovely. 

Good to see these principles of play / improv and invitations to notice and make use of the resources in front of us, all to do some good, isn't it.

Greetings from Utah.

Tenneson

[Ria Baeck]

In case you want to read more about the combination of AoH and creative arts, there is actually a group on this site that has this as interest! You can join if you want to!