reflections on our first telegathering.

Oh, there's been so much going on!

Last Tuesday evening, we tested some new waters with Gaia.

I've been pretty vocal (or not quite vocal; what's the written equivalent of that word? Emphatic?) about my adoration and support of Gaia members getting together in person, or to participate in conversations and gatherings together outside the site itself. And we've had site-wide events of a sort, in that we've encouraged members to get together in their own local communities on the same day or week. On the 20th, though, thanks to Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks, we had our first live, participatory event for all of Gaia—a TeleGathering on Conscious Relationships.

It was quite something. :)

The call on Tuesday, from my perspective, went wonderfully. I was jittery with anxiety to start (I'd only been on one of those group calls once or twice in the past, and had never dreamed of hosting one!) but this nervousness was overshadowed, fortunately, by my giddy enthusiasm about what this event meant to the community. There's something so, so powerful about sharing any experience with a large group of others, and every time I thought about this with relation to Gaia my heart would beat faster and fill to the brim with such a sense of joy and excitement. When we opened the lines that evening, all I could think about was the hundreds of members from around the world all listening and all paying attention to the same shared call.

Fortunately, though, Gay and Katie are two people with great presence and greater love, and their easy comfort with the topic and the form quickly drew me into the call and conversation.

I won't go into too much detail about the content and all I learned there, just because I'd like my reflections there to be  more a part of the dialog in the related Group. Instead, I'll just say that it was wonderful seeing the questions come in and to dive with them in and out of the seminar.

The only damper on the evening had nothing to do with the Gathering and listeners and topic, and everything to do with the TeleConference service we used: apparently the webcast software couldn't handle the number who joined us, and so while those who came early enough to get on the bridge line, anyone who tried to tune in online was left with a busy tone.

No matter, I told myself. We'll be able to post the recording when we're done.

But even that was not to be. The recording depended on the webcast software, not the phone line, so all the conversation was lost for good.

After a quick bit of thinking, Gay and Katie and I just decided to restage the call the following day; we didn't want anyone to miss the seminar and fortunately had all the questions saved. I'll confess that despite being a little disheartened by having lost the first recording, part of me was a bit relieved, as I knew a little more about "how" to host a call such as this, and another part of me was excited about the opportunity to spend another hour in such a rich learning situation.

Fortunately the second version went beautifully. :) Practice makes, if not perfect, at least for smoother practices in the future. And while listening to myself still makes my ears burn red, I'm sure I'll used to the sound of my voice soon.

In any case, do go have a peep at the related Group! The recording is posted over there and there's already some rich conversations that's starting to flow.