Wanting to acknowledge it here, because that’s kind of what I think having a blog might be part of, acknowledging/witnessing, but knowing there are no proper paragraphs that will do so tidily. Something to do with the impossibility of summing it up, and not wanting to ‘sum it up’ anyway. Summing up would imply an end. I don’t think there is one. That’s good. (Though I know it’s going to seem a bit odd to people who don’t really know what I’m talking about. Check the link, it might help.)
D&D4

For me, this year, it was :
Easy, welcoming. I knew I’d see some friends, I knew I’d make some new ones, I knew there would be at least one surprising thing.
Quiet. In the Gaza session there was a heavy quiet. With a lot of feeling around anger, sadness, helplessness, lack of hope and then maybe some hope. It felt right.
Wine. There’s always wine. One glass each day for me was quite abstemious and quite nice. Not to over-do it. Not to see the reason for being there as the pub conversation, but to know that the pub and the lunch and the coffee break are sessions as much as anything else. They too are over when they’re over.
Cancer. Heh. There’s always the cancer link somewhere. The interest for me, now, years later, is with whom.
Lifegame. There are always Lifegame links (for me) too. Open Space is very like impro. Lifegame is very like writing books/storytelling. Open Space D&D is full of stories. The impro which is the Open Space which is the Story finding its own way from underneath/within, bubbling up, making itself known. Like a life. Game.
I was, yet again, depressed by the stories of young women encountering the kind of sexism that feminism (had we had it, had it worked) was meant to ‘fix’. I was, yet again, impressed by the willingness of men – and other women – to listen to and empathise with these stories. I was reminded (yet again!) that feminism – like all the other offspring of the ‘liberation movement’ is/ought to be for all of us.
The welcome presence of children, tiny baby.
Queer stuff. It felt more queer this year. Inclusively so. Good.
Explaining, before hurrying home, about using Open Space to edit a novel. As a tool for one person. Pleased to be given a chance to share it.
Gratitude. I felt, feel, a lot of gratitude. And I look forward to the D&D Practical Playing. (that’s happening right? yay.)