Good Day Everyone!

Following, are some highlights from the February 13, 1999 Chicago Voluntary Simplicity Meeting, which was held in the Old St. Pat's Church Administration Building, 711 W. Monroe, Chicago.

Our next meeting will be on Saturday, March 13, 1999, starting at 9:00 AM and concluding just before noon.

FYI: Notes/Meeting dates/time posted at the VS Chicago Web Site:

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Joel, Mary, Carole, Jill, Telese, JR, Phyllis, Mike, Linda, Steve and Lisa welcomed Gina, Maureen, Dave, Ross, Carla, and Francesca to their first meeting.

Joel facilitated the open space discussion, beginning with a brief round of introductions.

Joel then explained the foundations of open space discussion...

• Everyone can post topics they are interested in (gives everyone opportunity to address their needs/expectations)
• Group then arranges topics, creating a meeting agenda that is pertinent to the needs of the attendees/day
• Everyone can "sign-up" for the discussion topics they would like to attend
• Whoever shows up for a discussion, are the "right" ones to show up (be it only one person or twenty)
• Whenever the discussion starts, is the right time for it to start
• Whenever the discussion ends, is the right time for it to end
• use The Law of Two Feet (move freely from discussion to discussion as guided by your interest)
• be a Butterfly and/or Bumble Bee => feel free to float from discussion to discussion and/or to participate in each discussion (i.e., pollinate)
• we'll reconvene as a whole group, and share any observations/highlights from the discussions

The Group then began writing discussion topics (question, observation...) focused on simplicity. After "posting " their item/s on one of the meeting room's blank walls, the Group combined like topics, and arranged them into "Discussion A, B, C & D". Those topics were:

The group decided to: (1) discuss topics A, B, & C concurrently, then (2) reconvene at 10:45 to share discussion observations (3) begin the Your Money Or Your Life Study Guide Session at 11:00.

Summaries of the discussions:

Joel concluded then concluded the open space discussion, turning facilitation of the Your Money Or Your Life MONEY & SPIRIT Study Guide session #1 to Mike.

Mike explained the MONEY & SPIRIT Guide was just created, and that this would be the first Chicago group we know of to use it. MONEY & SPIRIT is designed like the other guides, to take the participants thru the first 5 steps of the book, Your Money Or Your Life. MONEY & SPIRIT differs though in that it has a focus on discovering "purpose".

Mike lead the group thru the Introduction Section, and then Session 1: Getting Started.

The first exercise, Silent Reflection/Discussion created a lot of discussion and thought. The reflection was a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, JR., "We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to humanity".

The discussion was focused on two questions, "What is success to you? How do you determine if you are successful?" Everyone had an opportunity to share their thoughts on success. "Helping others, being at peace with myself, calmness, being now as someone who helps others..." were among the shared reflections.

The Group rapidly approached our conclusion time of noon, and thus concluded the Study Guide session at page 10. We briefly discussed the remaining items from Section 1, sharing thoughts of how to track your expenses (Exercise, page 11).

The Group decided to: (1) continue the Study Guide Sessions at the Simplicity Meetings (2) firmly begin the next session at 10:30 -- Jill volunteered to time keep, to be certain we have adequate time for the session.