Project Renaissance home page | The Stream Index
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Newsletter of Project Renaissance and Win Wenger
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2004 (Best viewed with
fixed-width font)
IN THIS ISSUE:
* Quote of the
Month
* Announcements
* Events/News
Items
* FEATURE ARTICLE:
"I Can't
Think" by Jon Pearson
* Comments,
Feedback
About Jon
Pearson - Win Wenger
Adventures in
Breathing - Lothar Jost
* Organizational
Notes
* Links
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
Like a tapestry in three dimensions
the patterns of our lives weave in and out,
among and between the threads of awareness,
softly hinting that within each thread
lies a galaxy of others.
- Anon.
........................................................................
ANNOUNCEMENTS
~~~
WELCOME to all new members who have joined us this month.
We hope to
hear from you and to give you much food for thought. Back
issues are
in the online archives:
http://www.winwenger.com/strmlist.htm
~~~
** LATEST NEWS **
LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER FOR THE PROJECT RENAISSANCE
DOUBLE FESTIVAL 2004
- 13th Annual Conference on Creative Problem-Solving and
Accelerated
Learning - November 12-14, 2004
Beyond-Einstein Training - November 12, 2004
Trainer Training - November 15-18, 2004
See further details in the EVENTS section below.
~~~
CREATIVITY CONFERENCE THEME
The Alden B. Dow Creativity Center is inviting our help
in deciding the
theme for their next summer's event, the 16th Annual
Conference on
Creativity in Colleges and Universities, to be held on
the campus of
Northwood University (Midland, MI) on July 14-17, 2005.
Here are the themes from the past 6 Conferences:
1999 - "Creativity In a World of Challenge and
Change"
2000 - "Exploring the Creativity Era Together"
2001 - "The Kaleidoscope of Creativity: Exploring
the Many Colors of
Change"
2002 - "Uncovering Creativity: Discovering the Vitality of the Human
Spirit"
2003 - "Being a Creative Being: Our Infinite
Potential"
2004 - "Celebrating Individual Creativity: From
Inspiration to
Application"
Email your brilliant (or even nearly brilliant)
suggestions to the
Executive Director, Dr. Grover B. Proctor, Jr.
mailto:grover@northwood.edu
~~~
SOMETHING OF INTEREST
In the September 2004 issue, we mentioned the work of
Prof. Frithjof
Bergmann, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. It is called
"New Work - New
Culture" and details a concept of work which
proposes that people
- spend one third of their time in paid jobs as we know
it,
- spend one third of their time doing something they really,
really want
- and spend one third of their time to provide/supply
themselves, e.g. by
growing food or working in simple assemblies which
produce things that
are really needed (clothing, transport, etc.).
Here's an interview with Prof. Bergmann:
http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC37/Bergmann.htm
~~~
IN SPANISH! A
Review of "The Einstein Factor"
For our Spanish readers, here's a treat:
http://www.correoclick.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=45
Written by Project Renaissance member Claudia Ruiz, who
has trained with
Win Wenger.
........................................................................
EVENTS
~~~
PROJECT RENAISSANCE
DOUBLE FESTIVAL 2004
13th
Annual Conference on Creative Problem-Solving
and Accelerated Learning
November 12-14, 2004
Pasadena, Maryland
Beyond-Einstein Training, November 12, 2004
Double
Festival 2004, November 12-14, 2004
Trainer Training, November 15-18, 2004
Whether you are a teacher, parent, student, business
owner or employee,
this conference is for you, because we live in a world of
continuous
change that challenges us with the need for continuous
learning and
teaching.
The Double Festival is designed for a high level of
involvement by all
the participants - content-rich lectures and
participatory thinktanks.
The thinktank might be a discussion, brainstorming,
creative problem-
solving exercise, Image-Streaming, or another of Project
Renaissance's
Socratic techniques. The final 2 to 3 hours of the
Festival are devoted
to a "Grand Panel of the Whole," with the
participants and presenters
thinktanking together on the most significant issues from
the conference.
With Win Wenger's facilitation and guidance, and through
the use of
Project Renaissance's "Dynamic Format",
participants feel comfortable in
expressing their thoughts and ideas, and all have a
chance to be heard,
and thus they discover and unfold more of their
individual genius.
To learn more about the work of Win Wenger and Project
Renaissance, or
to prepare yourself to participate in greater depth
during the Double
Festival, a one-day Beyond-Einstein Training Intensive
will be held
preceding the start of the actual Double Festival, on
Friday, November 12,
from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm for a tuition of only $295. When
you enroll for
both the Beyond-Einstein Intensive Training and the
Double Festival, you
save $100.
If you already know Win Wenger's work and are inspired to
teach it to
others, there will be Trainer Training workshops
following on the Double
Festival, from Monday, November 15, through Thursday,
November 18, 2004.
Tuition is just $200 per day or $700 if you enroll for
all 4 days. That's
another $100 savings.
The greatest savings obtain when you enroll for the full
series, all
three events, for $1250, saving $240. To encourage your
family members
to attend, their registrations are at half-price. See the
table of
options below.
The cozy private facility engaged will comfortably hold
only about 65
participants. Our website's Events page will notify you
if all spaces
get filled. As of October 20 there was still room and you
are very
welcome to register with us.
Be part of this life-changing and world-changing event.
Choose your
desired courses in the chart below and make your
reservations by any of
the ways listed.
...........
TOPICS PREVIEW
The Double Festival's education topics will include,
among others:
* The Art of Mentoring and Coyote Teaching
* Real World Learning
* Teaching Creativity in our Schools
* Optimal Growth and Productivity in Organizations
* Focus on Learning, not on Teaching
............
COURSES AND TUITIONS
* 1-day Beyond
Einstein Intensive, $295
* Double Festival,
Fri. PM-Sunday PM, $495
* Beyond
Einstein/Double Festival ($100 discount), $690
* Beyond
Einstein/Double Festival alumni, $590
* One day Trainer
Training, $200
* Two days Trainer
Training, $400
* Three days
Trainer Training, $600
* All 4 days
Trainer Training, $700
* The Works, all 3
events in full, $1250
Family Plan: To
register accompanying family members at half price,
please email Win Wenger directly - wwenger101@aol.com
Student Discount:
To register students at 30% discount from the listed
prices, contact Win Wenger directly -
wwenger101@aol.com
...........
REGISTRATION
You may register for one or more or all of these events.
You can
register by:
* Phone to Win
Wenger - 301-948-1122. If no answer, 410-437-2163.
* Email to Win
Wenger - wwenger101@aol.com
* Regular mail by
printing out the Registration Form from the website:
( http://www.winwenger.com/df13reg.htm ) and sending it
with your check or
money order, or your credit card number and expiration
date, to Project
Renaissance, PO Box 332, Gaithersburg, MD 20884-0332.
* Online via credit
card on the Project Renaissance website. Visit this
special page:
http://www.winwenger.com/df13.htm . Please choose and
click the appropriate Register buttons. Choose as many as
you need. Our
secure ordering system will prompt you step by step to
fill out the
order form. Select "Registration" in the order
form menu to keep it from
adding sales tax and shipping costs. ...........
The Double Festival concludes at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday,
November 14th. To
insure that we continue the momentum and energy from the
conference,
Project Renaissance offers a next steps discussion for
the participants
and presenters to determine how best to continue the work
that was
started.
Discount rates of only $79 a day for lodging at the
Ramada Inn in Hanover,
MD, have been negotiated for Double Festival attendees.
Reserve by October
31 by calling 410-712-4300. Pick-up at BWI airport is
available for arrivals
from out of town. Driving directions and full information
on the website -
see links below.
Harman Benda, Chairman
Double Festival 2004
Project Renaissance
___________________________________________________________________
Project Renaissance homepage: http://www.winwenger.com
Events Calendar:
http://www.winwenger.com/events.htm
Upcoming Events: http://www.winwenger.com/upcoming.htm
Double Festival:
http://www.winwenger.com/df13.htm
~~~
IAL CONFERENCE CALL SERIES
The International Alliance for Learning will host a
series of conference
calls with leaders in the field of Accelerated Learning,
Accelerative
Learning and other areas of human development - leading
up to the 2005
IAL International Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, January
13-16, 2005.
Further information is available from Chuck Bubar:
mailto:CBubar@aol.com
~~~
Win Wenger is delivering a further UNIQUE TRAINER
TRAINING in London, UK
Due to the incredible success of the first-ever Project
Renaissance
Trainer Training in London, UK, we are offering a further
opportunity for
trainers to attend Module 1 and 2 of Win's unique
programme.
Module 1: February 24-26, 2005
Module 2: February 28-March 1, 2005
Venue - The October Gallery, Hoborn, London, UK
Places are very limited and special discounted rates are
available until
November 30, 2004. Contact Cora Robinson for further
information and
testimonials:
mailto:cora@createexpress.com
........................................................................
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Feature Article:
I CAN'T THINK
by Jon Pearson
Copyright 1992
I remember being eight years old and sitting in Mrs.
Blaisdell's class
trying to think
what to write. In the pictures of me in third grade I
was always wearing this striped T-shirt so I guess I was
sitting there
in my striped T-shirt trying to think what to write. I'd
be looking down
at my hand. The paper was blank as a plate and I'd watch
my hand. I'd
sometimes have a little "talk" with it. My hand
got so familiar-looking
it started looking strange and I'd wonder, "Whose
hands ARE these?" and
"What am I doing with THESE hands?"
I'd sometimes think how young and small my hands were
compared to Mrs.
Blaisdell's. Mrs. Blasidell had old hands and I sometimes
imagined she
had young hands inside them moving them around like
gloves.
When I'd think "What am I doing with THESE
hands?" I'd suddenly be aware
of my whole body. I'd squirm my toes in my shoes to make
sure my feet
were still there and they were MY feet. I'd sit up real
straight and
lean slowly one way and the other, operating my whole
self to make sure
I was me. By then I would wonder what I was thinking
about in the first
place to imagine for a moment these weren't my hands.
I still couldn't think what to WRITE. And time was
pouring by. Mrs.
Blaisdell was sitting at the big wood desk at the front
of the room and
everyone around me was writing up a storm. CAN'T THINK!
Just then, I thought of the word "smell." I
always liked the word
"smell." It never reminded me of what it
reminded most people, apparently.
I always got the same thought: first I'd see the color
light blue, then
I'd imagine the insides of my nose. The word
"nose" always made me think
of macaroni: "NOSE" and then I'd think
macaroni. Anyway, words to me are
like little houses full of different things.
"Smell", the word goes on
and on... First, I see the blue, then think of the walls
of my nose, then
I almost always think of the zoo and this orangutan I saw
once. He was
looking at me with his nose. It was all black like rubber
with small dots
on top and wet inside the little nose holes. His nostrils
seemed to be
THINKING. I thought he was thinking about me and how he
didn't like me
very much. "Smelllllllllll" and all that comes
to mind in one, long
thought smear.
I kept looking down at my hands and saying the word
"smell" to myself
for no reason at all and squirming my toes like mad now,
because I knew
Mrs. Blaisdell would be angry because I couldn't THINK
what to write and
it was good to know my feet, at least, were all mine.
I started thinking I was in a time box: a box of time, all
empty pressing
in on me. "WRITE SOMETHING," the empty time was
saying, looking at me
from all around and closing in. It reminded me of the
time my grandmother
wanted me to set the table and I didn't want to, so I
took about an hour
and a half to do it. She was squeaking all over the
kitchen floor in her
shoes. And in the dining room I could FEEL her WANTING me
to hurry up but
I pretended that I had been given a serum by aliens and
was in slow motion
and the air, the space in the room, was thick like invisible
pancake batter
and I could barely move. I heard my father coming down
the haIl and I
forgot about the "pancake batter" and the
aliens and finished the table
in about five seconds - the spoon here, the fork there,
this way, that
way, the knife facing all in on the napkin. I always felt
sorry for the
napkins. They always looked so lonely and neglected.
People would either
forget them or wipe their big, strange mouths on them and
then twist them
all up and they'd be scraped into the garbage. I felt
more sorry for
napkins, in fact, than I did for most people, most of the
time. Grown-ups
could, at least, take care of themselves. But napkins,
they were just
there, little folded-over "beds" where the
silverware rested; I started
feeling for the silverware.
Anyway, I still couldn't think what to write. I started
feeling like a
napkin, myself. Mrs. Blaisdell was getting up out of her
desk right then.
OH NO... I thought she'd be coming right toward me, like
that shark in
Jaws. She was wandering, thank goodness, on the other
side of the room,
going down the aisles, looking at other people's papers.
I suddenly realized how square-shaped paper looked, how
pure the corners
were. The paper looked naked sitting there with nothing
on it. WRITE
SOMETHING!
‘WE GOT A CAT YESTERDAY." We didn't get a cat
yesterday, but I had to
write something. I had to get going. Mrs. Blaisdell would
be all over
my desk in a minute, eyeballing everything and breathing
all over me.
I'd be eaten alive by her look.
"LILLY WAS HER NAME. SHE IS A NICE CAT."
"Lilly" - what a dumb name for
a cat, but I couldn't erase it, it would take too long.
"WE FEED IT EVERYDAY." "It?" It's a
she. Oh well, it's an animal. I wish I
knew the names of different kinds of cats. I could feel
myself breathing
from the stomach out, my belt going up and down. STUPID!
WRITE!
I looked over and there was Bonnie Strayhan with about
two pages written
full out. I wished for a moment I WAS Bonnie Strayhan,
but only for a
moment, just until the end of the period, anyway. She had
this fabulous
handwriting. My handwriting looked like a bank robbery
note: letters all
different sizes slanting wrongwise. Hurry. Stupid!
"KITTY IS FUN TO FLAY WITH. SHE LIKES MILK."
(It likes milk?) It would
help if I had a cat. I hate cats. I should have written
about a dog. I'd
have more to write. I started thinking about what I'd be
doing in twenty
years. I'd be all grown up. For a second I thought it
would be fun being
a gangster. I saw myself in a pin-striped suit. I
wouldn't have to write
papers or even SPEAK good English. I'd have these
terrific white and black
shoes, "wing tips" my father calls them, like
golf shoes - very expensive.
Why do they call them "wing tips"? What do they
have to do with "wings" or
"tips"...finger tips, tips of fingers.
That's it! I'd be a safe cracker, known far and wide as
simply "Fingers."
My name and occupation would be one. There would be an
aura around me. "HEY
FINGUS." The guys I worked with would never say
"fingERS", just "fingus",
and it would be a special feeling. People wouldn't talk
much around me but
they'd respect my fingers. I'd be like church. I'd wear
gloves so no one
could ever actually SEE my hands, they'd be buried in my
coat, a total
secret. I'd develop an amazing friendship with them, a
language. I'd
have special gloves with little embroidered lines on the
backs.
Oh, no. I can see the toes of Mrs. Blaisadell's shoes
coming toward me.
"KITTY IS FUN. WE FLAY WITH KITTY EVERY DAY. I COULD
WATCH KITTY ALL
DAY. MY BROTHER AND I FEED KITTY ON SEPARATE DAYS. KITTY LIKES MILK
AND CAT FOOD."
"CAT FOOD" - there's a "house of
thought." I once opened a can of cat
food. "KeL-Can," it was called, in the yellow
can. The worst kind is
chicken liver. It's like whitish-gray paste. I tasted a
sliver out of
the can. It went off in my brain like a gunshot - UCKK.
You want to
throw up. It's as if you swallowed bad music. It gave me
a headache.
The fish kind isn't as bad. It's all stinky when you get
the lid off,
fills up the room like a thought.
WRITE SOMETHING! In a minute Mrs. Blaisdell will be all
over the desk,
beating down on me with those heat lamp eyes of hers.
I'll be trapped.
There'll be this long silence. I'll feel like a dog dish.
"Why haven't
you..." her mouth will start saying.
I'll say, "I can't think what to write." CAN'T
THINK what to write.
I'm
always saying I "CANNNNNN'T think." Sound like a sheep. Maybe
if I lay all over my desk she won't be able to see how
much I haven't
written. Or if I
look like I'm thinking real hard, or maybe like I'm
sick and CAN'T think and it's not my fault.
"THE CAT FOOD IS STINKY BUT KITTY LIKES IT." I'
m glad I'M not a cat.
I've filled up half the page, at least. Sometimes that's
enough. The
teacher won't jump all over you if you've been trying.
"Applying"
yourself is what she says. What am I, toothpaste? I JUST CAN'T THINK.
Mrs. Blaisdell is always reading things with her whole
face. Her eyes
spread out and her nose gets longer and she has this very
grown-up
looking
mouth.
Her teeth look like they went to college.
CAN'T THINK!
Wish my HANDS could think and I could just write what
they said, like
a piano player playing the piano - Bonnie Strayhan at the
keyboard.
She just goes, ‘zif she had brains in her hands. Doesn't
have to think
at all, just writes and writes. I HATE my feet. My shoes
are too round.
Writing is junk. I feel worse after I do it.
"AND CATS ARE GOOD PETS BECAUSE THEY DON'T MAKE A
LOT OF NOISE. WE LOVE
OUR CAT AND IT (IT?) LOVES US."
How do I know if the cat loves us? I don't have a cat and
I hate cats.
Writing is like pushing a bicycle backwards up a hill.
Why bother? If
only I could make it come out of my hands. I've applied
myself, anyway,
and I'm at the bottom of the page.
I m writing "THE END", fancy, like in the
Declaration of Independence.
I wonder if I should have put something in about the cat
in a hot air
balloon or something. I can never think within the time.
Well, at least, Mrs. Blaisdell didn't get to read it
before I turned it
in. She didn't breathe all over it next to my desk. I
know I'm not
creative like the teacher says Bonnie Strayhan is, but I
can't get too
low a grade. I filled the whole page and wrote about how
nice cats are.
What more do they want?
- Jon Pearson ( mailto:PEARSONJON@AOL.com )
[Editor's note:
John Pearson has an absolute copyright on this story,
published here by permission. It will eventually be
included in a book
he is preparing. Please respect our guest author's rights
by not copying
or otherwise reproducing this article in any form. Thank you.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To send feedback privately to the author, email him at:
mailto:pearsonjon@aol.com
To send your comments about this interview to The Stream,
write to:
mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=Can'tThink
To post your feedback or promote a discussion of this
topic:
http://bbs.cartserver.com/bbs/b/7733/#PostMessage
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........................................................................
COMMENTS and FEEDBACK
~~~
ABOUT JON PEARSON - Win Wenger (
mailto:wwenger101@aol.com )
Jon Pearson is an absolutely brilliant humorist and stage
personality.
His most important work has been "entertaining"
hundreds of thousands of
California children by teaching them an easy form of art,
called "Moogie
art," which makes it far easier for them to express
their thoughts, ideas
and perceptions.
This self-expression is crucial, especially for
marginally verbal children.
Here we have a child, his mind filled with all kinds of
thoughts, almost
any of which would have been great for his writing into
Mrs. Blaisdell's
assignment - and none of which it occurred to him TO
write. His rich
inner landscape recalls the inspired cartoons of Bill
Watterson's "Calvin
and Hobbes".
This year's Double Festival (
http://www.winwenger.com/df13.htm ) focuses
on the theory and practice of education. Jon Pearson's
tale frames the
theme: the need to revolutionize public educational
philosophy to allow
our children's minds to flourish. [More in the November
2004 issue of The
Stream.] If you have a personal and professional interest
in educational
issues, I encourage you to attend this year's Double
Festival.
Registration: http://www.winwenger.com/df13reg.htm
~~~
ADVENTURES IN BREATHING...- Lothar Jost (
mailto:barakaya@yahoo.de )
Anyone who has experimented with their breath knows that
different
kinds of breathing differently affect their state of
mind; in
particular, breathing deeply for some minutes has
immediate effects on
mental clarity.
Win has observed how breath, attention span and reading
skills are
related. From reading, this can be generalized to any
cognitive
activity... most contents entering consciousness seem to
interrupt any
natural, rhythmic and deep way of breathing.
I think these effects occur only to the degree we are
identified with
thoughts and emotions; but since only few of us are Zen
monks or have a
sufficiently 'meditative' state of mind to be outside of
these
mechanisms, my point is that, since we have some
cognitive activity
going all the time, we never have a natural and deep
breathing pattern
for even a minute. That is, throughout most of the day
the brain is
undersupplied with oxygen. That seems to indicate that
MUCH can be done
with respect to supplying the brain with oxygen this side
of widening
your arteries.
In light of this, your practice of breathing on a regular
basis should
have powerful effects, not only by its depth but also by
restoring the
pattern to at least some normality even without making it
deeper.
Happy breathing :-)
- Lothar Jost ( mailto:barakaya@yahoo.de )
------------------------------------------------------------------~~~~~~
To send your comments to The Stream for possible
publication here, write
to: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=Comments
........................................................................
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ORGANIZATIONAL NOTES
~~~
TOPICAL INTEREST GROUPS:
Our membership is large and diverse, and many of you have
expressed an
interest in communicating with other members who share
your topic of
concern or research interest. If you'd like us to share
your email
address with other interested members, and to supply
theirs to you,
please email your name, email address and subject/topic
to:
mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=InterestGroups
Your communications will be private. If you'd like to
take a topic
public, just post your discussions on Project
Renaissance's board:
http://bbs.cartserver.com/bbs/b/7733/#PostMessage
~~~
ADDRESS CHANGE?
If your email address changes or your email box is full
or your spam
filter blocks us, we can't get The Stream to you. Please,
before that
happens, make sure you notify us of any change and put
winwenger.com on
your safe senders list. Write to:
mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=Address
~~~
SUBSCRIBER OR MEMBER?
If you currently only subscribe to The Stream, you can
upgrade your
participation in Project Renaissance to full membership,
free.
Membership in Project Renaissance entitles members to
additional
benefits. If you're not yet a member, please register
now, here:
http://www.winwenger.com/regmem.htm
or from link on the homepage, http://www.winwenger.com .
~~~
DUPLICATE MAILING?
If you received two (or more?) copies of this issue of
The Stream,
please let us know by replying to:
mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=duplicate
~~~
HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE...
* You can post messages on Project Renaissance's
discussion board about
any Project
Renaissance topic and join any ongoing discussions. No log-
in required.
Please visit our homepage at http://www.winwenger.com and
click the
Discussion Board link. To post a message right now, click
here: http://bbs.cartserver.com/bbs/b/7733/#PostMessage
* The long-established, popular Image-Streaming egroup is
here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/imagestream - requires Yahoo sign-in.
* Submit articles, comments or questions for possible
inclusion in
The Stream: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=TotheEditor
........................................................................
LINKS
* Back issues of
THE STREAM by email upon request from
mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=BackIssues
* Index of feature
articles in The Stream archives:
http://www.winwenger.com/strmlist.htm
* Archived copies
of Capital Ideasmiths are here:
http://www.winwenger.com/Capitalidea/capidea1.htm
* Project
Renaissance homepage:
http://www.winwenger.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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