Members of the worldwide Awakening the Dreamer (ATD) Community gathered in California with the express purpose of taking the ATD Program into the most powerful expression possible. Leaders from 6 continents brought their experience, heart and vision together to serve the transformation of the program, the community and themselves.
The first two days brought together 43 Training Leaders, those who lead Facilitator Trainings in different countries, and then for three days they were joined by another 52 people from as far away as South Korea, New Zealand, China, Argentina, UK and the USA. The days allowed for the sharing of rich experiences with the Symposium in many different communities as well as the creation of new ideas and collaborations within this global family.
The gathering was stirred by guest speakers Joanna Macy, Paul Hawken and Drew Dellinger as well as Lynne and Bill Twist.
The results of all of this will be seen most tangibly in new projects and fresh impetus for existing projects, and in the renewed commitment and greater responsibility being seized by these leaders. The Summit gave people a chance to recommit themselves to the quest for social justice in the ATD work so that its power can reach into every corner of the human family. And they also celebrated all that is happening and about to happen with young people through the youth project, Generation Waking Up .
Out of this set of meetings, the ATD Program shifted, from focusing on Awakening the Dreamer to embracing Changing the Dream, from people seeing themselves as Symposium Facilitators to knowing they are Change Agents in Blessed Unrest, from centrally-coordinated to community-led, to find a truly global audience in these next few years.