Thanks Vera
it should work now but if not
here are the notes
Cheers
Harrison
Summary Notes
Collective Constellation:
Unpacking the Hidden Dynamics of the November 3 Election
Conducted online October 16, 2020
Facilitated by Harrison Snow – Notes taken by Bruce Nayowith
Sponsored by CBODN and Keystone Conversations
Overview
This is the 120th meeting of the community of practice for organizational
constellations that has been hosted by a local chapter of the Organizational
Development Network in Washington DC. Keystone Conversations began in 2017 NASC
conference in Virginia Beach, USA and has been conducting bimonthly, online
sessions on topics of interest to organizational constellation facilitators. 35
persons were online for the constellation. However, an issue with zoom did keep
others from being able to sign into the call.
A collective constellation is a systemic tool for looking at organizational and
social issues. We will use this tool to better understand the dynamics that
have been showing up in society during this upcoming presidential election.
Participants discussed in dyads two questions: 1) Why does this topic interest
us?
2) What should we remember to do to foster good experience for all?
Framing of the Constellation
Our focus assumption and questions: If we see the current election dynamics as
symptomatic of deeper drivers in the national psyche, then;
1-What are those drivers? And 2-what is needed to reduce the disruption and
enhance the functionality of the democratic process.
Every system functions based on the relationships between the various parts
that make it up. We are asking ourselves; What are the relationships of the
different parts in our system that have been highlighted by the election
process and, what is needed to restore harmony between those parts?
In this work we don’t show up with judgment or blame or taking sides because
that affects the systemic healing. By looking systemically without
preconceptions and agreeing to the “what is” that we see we mitigate the
blocks that keep the system from coming into balance.
You can choose to or not to represent some part of the system. What you feel
may be a strong emotion but it’s likely not yours. If some emotion is directed
at you know that it likely is not about you personally. The process is not
personal. It pertains to a part or the relationship between the parts. To keep
our bias out of the process we will do a blind constellation. The facilitator
will know who is in what group but you the representatives will not know till
the end of the constellation which group you are representing.
Constellation Representations
The participants were divided up by the computer into 6 group of 5 or 6 members
each.
The groups were as followings:
Group One - Trump Supporters
Group Two - Drivers Behind Trump Supporters
Group Three - Biden Supporters
Group Four - Drivers Behind Biden Supporters
Group Five - Election Dynamics
Group Six - What Is Needed
The groups were in their own breakout room for a few minutes and shared what
they noticed somatically. Most reported feeling heavy, afraid, tired, angry,
overwhelmed and other uncomfortable sensations or emotions. Some of the members
of group five were hopeful and concerned. The groups were brought back to the
main room and asked to turn off their videos.
Conduct of Constellation
One person who represented his or her group was asked to turn on their video.
Groups one, three and five were on the screen initially and asked to report on
what their group noticed during the breakouts and what they noticed in the
current moment.
The groups representing the supporters of Trump and Biden reported feelings of:
Sinking, beyond my abilities, over my head…..
Drowning….
A conflict between wanting to connect with others, and the amount of courage it
takes to go into an unknown experiential process.
Emotion sinking down from heart into belly. Felt like fear and anxiety…. A lot
of uncertainty….
Almost a positive excitement, needed to come up….
Empty in stomach.
Some numbness.
Waiting for some feeling, waiting for what is going to happen….
Feel the potential for violence because of the fear on a mass level…..
“functioning without guts” - not depth, not grounded…..
Despondent, listless. I have given up….
The representative for the Election, group 5, reported more positive feelings
but was also concerned and overwhelmed: She stated:
Many feel lost…..
Wondering what can help people add strength to what they are….. wanting to
help, and, there are so many, so fast….
A lot of competition for my positive energy….
Group 1 for Trump stated - I can’t breathe. Pain in my chest. Tightness and
constriction
Group 3 for Biden - I feel pretty self-absorbed. This is my orbit now.
Group 1 for Trump- I feel the same. In my tight perimeter. Can’t see the others
Both Trump and Biden groups felt Isolation and self-absorption. They felt they
cannot really connect with each other or Group 5…..
Group 1- We are two different tribes of pain but feel very different and
separate from each other….. One in holding it all in the chest/heart; the other
one in belly…..
Group 5 – the Election - I see this as empowerment, and, something is preparing
us for changes in the world… feel a lot of positivity…..Like something is
emptying out, like a barrel draining… Nothing I can do, makes me nauseous…..
The Representatives for group 2 and 4 were brought in and asked to turn on
their videos
so others could see them.
Group 2 – The drivers behind Trump Supporters stated:
Feeling a wave of energy…..
Heavy eyes, just go to sleep. Just don’t look…..
Keep your head buried in the sand.
Pressure around throat…
Feel disconnected and alone….
Heaviness in chest….
Empathy towards the others….
Another Trump Driver in group 2 reported that while in their breakout room:
We did not want to see. One of our group put his shawl around his head.
There was heaviness and unwillingness to see in the group
It felt safer to have our eyes closed.
As group 3 and 4 start to connect the member of group 2 with her video on
reports:
Group 2- My heart opens towards group 1…..
And group 1 in return states - I feel connected, less isolated, less fearful
Group 3 reports – I am feeling less distress…..to hear that between groups 1
and 2
Group 4- Representing drivers behind Biden Supporters stated:
Felt relaxation and calm at first…
Then the calm became a heaviness that was pressing down on the bodies…..
Tired, heaviness…..
Now, heart is a bit jumpy. Trying to open, feeling afraid…..
The fear seems related to everyone
Groups 3 and 4 feel connected to each other and see each other
Group 4 shares with 3 that she is afraid.
Group 3 acknowledges he hears her and her fear (without judgment)
Group 4 shares - I am relaxed and grounded and has nothing to do with the
election right now….
Group 2 reports that - Something in me settles….
The sharing between 4 and 3….. as they connect authentically, there is a
settling….
Facilitator Comment: Let’s all pause and take this moment in. Something is
shifting in a good way. When what has been suppressed is shared authentically
and acknowledged there is space for something new to emerge.
Group 5, the Election shares that - I wanted to say, ‘don’t give up’, but knew
it was not helpful.
When they connected and expressed their fear, and how the connection is bigger
than the election, that felt very important. Feels like floodgates opened…..
Group 2- the weight came off of my chest….
Groups 1 and 2 interact with each other
Group 1 shares - there is a little opening, focused on 2…… feels like I am
safe…..wanting to stay under her wing…..and group 3 and 4 have become more
visible to me……
Group 2 shares - it feels safe to look, and to speak.
It is important to hold space for each other…..
I feel warmth…..
Group 1 shares – I am coming out of myself; I can feel her (group 2) rather
than just wanting
to protect myself…
Group 5 shares - it feels like there was the emptying out of manure. It changed
to feeling a sense of a container, something precious. Not ‘empty’, but
precious.
It does not have to be filled with something new…. A big contrast to what it
was…..
Group 5 shares - listening to this, feels like the third leg to the stool. Not
so wobbly….
Appreciating the permission to let people know that I also am afraid, that I
have strength.
To be more diverse in how I express myself….
Group 6 is brought in. This group represented what is needed. They are asked to
turn on their videos if they have something they want to say to the other
groups.
Facilitator Note: Much of what was needed seemed to have happened at this point
in the listening and sharing authentically between the groups 1 and 2 and
groups 3 and 4. As the Trump and Biden supporters became more self-aware and
honest with themselves they could see and interact with the other group and the
election process in more healthy and positive way. Group 6 members had mixed
reactions to being brought into the process at the end.
Group 6 - What Is Needed
The first representative shared she felt- an expansive form of power, felt very
welcoming….
Clearing the old energy of pain and isolation and opening up space for the
accepting of self and each other with the new energy that was coming in…
Two other group 6 representative shared that:
Some in our group felt expanded, someone else was itching all over….
I felt pain in my chest, very desperate, nauseated….
In this space, it feels desperate - whoever speaks beautiful thoughts, I cannot
trust them…..
Sitting here, and waiting this long to be heard, was difficult. I wanted to get
out of here.
We were connected, but it felt like an island to ourself. I could not connect
to anything.
I had no idea what they were talking about….
Some discomfort in the group, not-knowing who we were and what we were…..
we were disjointed but joined in that discomfort.
We had the solutions but no one was interested in what we had to say.
This was very annoying and I just wanted to walk away
Some thoughts shared after the constellation was concluded:
* In 1954, Eisenhower recommended that they put “under God” into the Pledge
of Allegiance….because of the communist threat. We need divine intervention
now…..
* What happened when there was more honesty in the constellation was
moving…..
* It is not about figuring anything out; it’s about being in connection and
building authentic relationships. This theme keeps showing up in the 3 other
recent collective constellations I’ve done.
* The value of clarity of purpose is what is missing. On the Trump town
hall, he was defending himself. The disconnect is between ‘what’s my purpose’
and the activity showing up…
* The manure-like nauseating feeling felt by group 5 must be the potential
for cheating, gerrymandering, voting suppression and other disruptive
activities. That is the emptying out… Just give all the people equal rights to
vote. Keep our democracy as it was intended…..
* We have to listen to each other and be concerned about each other people
to people. Nothing moves if we are in our own tribal circle of self-absorption
and fear.
The solutions will emerge if we are patient and forbearing
________________________________
From: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> on
behalf of Veronique Pied veronique.pied@xxxxxxxxx [ConstellationTalk]
<ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2020 2:36 PM
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [ConstellationTalk] the hidden dynamics of the novermber 3 election
Hi Harrison!
It says the page does not exist when we click on the link in your blog.
Thanks,
Vera.
Le lun. 19 oct. 2020 à 14:27, Harrison Snow
teambuilder@xxxxxxx<mailto:teambuilder@xxxxxxx> [ConstellationTalk]
<ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> a
écrit :
Hi Everyone,
The summary notes from the recent collective constellation on unpacking the
hidden dynamics of the November 3 election in the USA are on my blog -
orgiq.blogspot.com<http://orgiq.blogspot.com>
A big thank you to Bruce Nayowith for taking the notes I used to prepare the
summary
Cheers
Harrison
