From the CIP Learning Inquiry, in participants' own words...
o My experience and observation is reinforcing my sense of how complex the issues/challenges are around establishing and maintaining a virtual community. + My sense is that quite a few people have formed connections and are becoming friends. The web of community is spinning. Every day more become woven together. I am finding myself thinking about the CIP now regularly, while driving, brushing my teeth, sleeping with the dog on the couch. To me it's a sign that the whole thing is working. - I am learning, first hand, how difficult it may be for some to "connect" in a virtual community. I am more aware of how much energy it requires of me at times to be present to people I do not, for the most part, know in any way other than what I am learning of them through the CIP community. + I have enjoyed experiencing the different ways in which people contribute and observing the different types of responses they want in return. - Except for a couple of personal e-mails no one else has spoken directly to me or reacted to anything I've shared. Hence, often in the CIP I feel lonely...kinda like being in a crowd of people, walking around eavesdropping on great conversations, but mostly going unnoticed by others. - I'm learning how difficult is to feel "included" in a big and so heterogeneous group. o Assumptions of exclusion and inclusion need conscious expression in order to move from blockage to flow. + I have enjoyed the diversity of interest, experience and views of the members of CIP which I think has created a rich tapestry and weave of conversation leading to learning. I have learned that it is safe to take risks in this community environment. - The absence of contributions from what seems to be a significant number of members is an uncomfortable part of this experience for me. I find it more disturbing to have had some make an appearance only to disappear than to have never encountered others at all. I wonder where they are, why they left, and what they would have brought had they stayed. +What has worked best for me is the simple and complex process of starting to get to know a number of new individuals an a new community of colleagues. Beginning to feel the presence of another community in my life -- one which may be for a short term only, but which has real significance. + I am learning about the critical importance of heart. Trudy and Peter's living example of sharing their deep open caring with all of us is essential to the quality of this community.