With not for
“Our work is developed with and not for others”.
This is Entelechy’s elegant first guiding principle.
This suggests to me some sense of “singing from the same song sheet”.
Joint attention
I think this requires two things.
- Discovering what it is we are both paying attention to.
- Finding what we are doing in this
Significance
To work with you, I need to discover what is significant to you. What is worthy of your attention?
Some participants in Ambient Jam, I guess, see the world in somewhat different ways to me.
This difference has two aspects.
- What we readily see as significant
- How we pattern or organise these significances
Frequently, it appears that what would immediately seem of significance to me or a fellow facilitator as is of no apparent consequence to the participant.
This could be a gesture, a shout, an object. These may all draw the attention of facilitators, yet appear to be utterly ignored by a participant. The opposite is also true.
Patterning
What do you see here?
Does everyone see what you see?
On a larger scale how I see the significance of how things are arranged can be very different from that of a participant. The patterning of objects, sounds into rhythms and scales, the sequencing of movements in interactions. There are ways of patterning that are immediately, obviously and automatically significant to me and fellow facilitators. To some participants these are entirely inconsequential. And again, the opposite is also true.
I love the challenge in discovering what that “song sheet” is and how are we going to sing it. This thrill’s me.
When we don’t have language to find out, that thrill is intensified.
What is it that is of importance to you right now? And if we find that, what is important to do about it?
Finding the “co” is the “creation”.
Peri Mackintosh
Ambient Jam 