WC#1 Selection Evening March 9, 2007This is a featured page


Wisdom Council Information and Selection Evening

 On Friday, March 9rd, several conveners for the first Wisdom Council in Canada -- Victoria, BC -- had the privilege of witnessing the birth of something special. Approximately a dozen of us have been meeting every Saturday for the past four months to plan and organize a Wisdom Council event for the end of March 2007. Something magic happened during the information session.

But first, a tiny bit of history.... After mailing out approximately 500 invitation letters, with a somewhat discouraging response of only 2-3 interested people, I don't think I was alone in feeling a bit nervous about having sufficient numbers for the Council. We decided to set up a roster and phone the people selected by random to see if we could answer any questions and get more people interested. The numbers trickled in and we felt there might be half a dozen or so for the information session, so we could see that a dozen people by the end of March was "doable."

We were elated to have eight random selectees attend and breath life into a process that had been, up to then, largely a good idea.

The evening session was handled with grace and humour by all involved. Dan chaired the evening and did a remarkable job of engaging the audience in a dynamic session. He invited conveners to talk about "what attracted them to the concept of Wisdom Councils?" Folks began to speak from the heart about how impressed they were with the approach... how inclusive it was... how it allowed everyone to speak authentically and to be heard.... to give a voice to the ordinary people... to work in parallel with the existing system.... The comments were thoughtful and often inspiring. There was plenty of laughter. The random selectees asked questions and began to engage in enthusiastic discussion. The group energy was spiraling.

We spoke about the ripple effect of getting this concept and the message of the Wisdom Council out into the real world. Dan observed that we should have a permanent meeting room at City Hall called the "Ripple Room." The entire room was buzzing with excitement over the possibilities and the real difference we could make, beginning with those few us in the room. It truly felt like an historic beginning.

And the moment of truth had arrived. Philip and Wendy had organized a pot and some poker chips for the random folks to indicate their intention to sit on the Wisdom Council. Philip walked around the circle and those who agreed to sit on the council dropped their chips into the pot with a satisfying "clunk." 1... 2.... 3.... the chips dropped. Each and every one of the random attendees dropped their chip in the pot!!

What a feeling! The birth of the Victoria Wisdom Council occurred on March 9, 2007. We were energized with the feeling of participating in something significant and the beginning of a meaningful contribution to our cherished tradition of democracy. Those of us in that room will likely always remember the event.

George Sranko
Victoria, BC
March 12, 2007



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