Potlucks, presentations and looking to the future

If anyone asks you whether we are moving Calgary toward being a “moveable feast,” the answer is yes.

On Sunday June 17 at Folk Tree Lodge, with beautiful weather, there was a potluck and two short presentations that provided food for thought. The presentations shared a common theme, best expressed by Mahendra. It’s essentially this: Our identity necessarily arises from our participation in something far larger than we are. An owl came by later in the evening to add to the wisdom.

Last Tuesday at Kawa was probably the liveliest I’ve seen, with more than a dozen participants, including representation from the Czech Republic, Chile, Germany, as well as Calgarians originally from India, Taiwan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and the United States.

We made a quick trip to the edge of the known universe (admittedly with very little time for sight-seeing), learned an important detail about how to organize our exercise so as to promote healthy brain aging, heard a couple of poems, did some quick sketches, and learned a little history related to North Korea. We looked at suggestions from Calgary Social Capital Society team members on how we can make our social events even better.

It’s time to expand and diversify. On Wednesday I went to Vendome in Kensington, found it relatively quiet with plenty of room including an outdoor space, and started planning Wednesdays at Vendome as a companion piece to our Tuesdays atKawa. The structure of the event at Vendome (which we’ll start in July) might be a specific topic for generative dialogue each week, known at least a week in advance; while Tuesdays at Kawa would retain the improvisational jazz structure.

We’ll be at Kawa next Tuesday, 6 to 9 PM, 1333 8th Street SW. The sky’s the limit.

Arthur