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Come to the fire!

 

Isn't it time to fire up your life, your work and your learning? Choose a live, participatory experience, a self-paced module or a tailored coaching experience.  Mix and match to suit your needs.

 

Live Events

Online, check for next dates

Thirsty for answers?

Play a Flow Game!  

Longing for more but don't know how to get there? Join a Flow Game to get joyfully & playfully unstuck in only 2.5 hours. Personalised coaching & targeted wisdom in an intimate small group setting. 

CONSIDER THIS: Getting yourself to where you want to be in your life is not about trying harder to get the right answers. It's about playfully asking the right question and receiving the wisdom that's already waiting for you. 

Wait, what? Could it be that easy?

Have you ever thought to yourself that if you only had the right answer, then all of life would fall into place?

What if it is all about about asking the right questions and bringing a sense of playful ease to what you discover as a result?

The intimate setting of a Flow Game helps you find the wisdom to take on your life with confidence, courage and energy.

You'll get personal, focused coaching and the wisdom of a small group of up to 8 other players.

A Flow Game helps you find the wisdom to take on your life with confidence, courage and energy. 

It's the best 2.5 hours you could invest in yourself!

Check next dates & register

Austria, May 7 - 9

The Art of Hosting

You are warmly invited to the Art of Hosting training in Innsbruck, Austria happening May 7 - 9.   

Join a circle of curious and courageous co-learners on the journey of learning how to host and harvest conversations that really matter. You'll come away with the tools, mental models, methods, action learning practice and a plan that will enable you to immediately put what you've learned into action. This training takes place in German.

Unsere Frage lautet: 

Wie bringen wir gute Veränderung in Gang?

Das dreitägige Training vermittelt den Teilnehmenden die vielfältigen Werkzeuge des Art of Hostings, die dazu befähigen handfeste Transformationsprozesse oder berufliche Herausforderungen zu begleiten. 
In einer Zeit, die uns vor vielfältige Herausforderungen stellt, braucht es neue Wege des Miteinanders. 

Wie können wir trotz unterschiedlicher Perspektiven in konstruktivem Austausch bleiben?

Wie nutzen wir die Vielfalt unserer Potenziale für positive Veränderungen unseres Umfelds?

Art of Hosting bietet erprobte Methoden für ko-kreative Prozesse und gelingende Beteiligung.

Termin: Mittwoch, 07. bis Freitag, 09. Mai 2025

Eine Kooperation von Partizipation.Tirol und dem
Haus der Begegnung Innsbruck

Hinweis: Die Veranstaltungssprache ist Deutsch

 

Learn more & register

Online starting April 22  

Beyond Facilitation

Working with conflict, divisiveness and disturbance

Falling into disturbance, conflict and divisiveness robs all of us of the potential of using its combined resources to create innovation and wiser action.

 Come and learn the powerful method of Collective Story Harvest and learn how this narrative method that can be applied in your upcoming projects precisely because it can support generative listening, deeper understanding, and stronger co-created outcomes.

We will hear current real time experiences from practitioners who are working at the edge of chaos and change.

Using what we learn from their experiences, we'll take a deeper look at the Collective Story Harvest method and test -- piece by piece -- how we can use each part strategically to anchor our work in a more connecting and cohesive way in this time of even greater change.

Come and be in learning with a circle of international colleagues. 

 Online April 22, 29 & May 6, 13

Click to find out more!

Learn more & register

Online May 20 & 27

The "Who Am I Now?" Conversations

Feel like you need a place to stop and figure out who you are now?

So many of us are facing challenges in life that seem never-ending. The pace of change feels overwhelming. It leaves us asking deep inside: "Who am I now in the face of this?"while trying to keep up on the outside.

We feel it too. That's why we're offering a open series of conversations you can join with others who are also asking "Who am I now? What is mine to do?" Together we'll look for the wisdom that comes when you have a conversation that really matters.

The "Who am I Now?" Conversations are designed as a two hour "sabbatical" from your everyday life. Give yourself the time to really sink into the conversation and be in inquiry with us. This is a time to slow down in order to go fast.

Our May 20 conversation focuses on "Who am I now?" and on May 27 we take a deeper look at "What is mine to do?"

These conversations are anchored by Mary Alice Arthur & Amy Lenzo, two very seasoned online group hosts, with a changing team of other talents bringing their unique contributions.

Online May 20 & 27

FREE

Join the conversation

Budapest, May 29 - June 1

The Art of Hosting & Harvesting

We invite you to join us for the Art of Hosting and Harvesting meaningful Conversations, focusing on the question: How can we stand together and collectively build new paths forward in the age of polarisation and “othering” and practice togetherness and collective path building?

Hungary is the perfect place to explore this most important question. This is a land where many European values have been curtailed or blocked and many people feel a lack of hope that change will come. Yet, paradoxically, it is also a place where societal innovation happens, where we can learn to strengthen our ability to act, where we can dig deeper into what community means and find new forms of standing up for what we want to see and living it  together. 

We will gather as a diverse community to explore and surface practices of togetherness based on a living systems worldview. Through participatory methods, mental models, and action learning, we will tap into our collective intelligence and gain new perspectives on coming together to overcome polarisation and othering.

If you desire a more collaborative and generative processes, this training is for you.

Learn more & register

Join me for the next training

Flow Game Host Training

If you've ever experienced a Flow Game, you know it is a playful way to handle the really serious stuff of life and work. Playing the Flow Game is a great way to get past overwhelmed and stuck and into a new view of the future.

A Flow Game is ideal for:

  • Colleagues who want to innovate together
  • Life partners wanting to explore an aspect of relationship in a new way
  • A team needing wise council on a current or planned initiative
  • Anyone seeking personal inspiration and a lift into their desired future 

The game has individual cards, team cards and family cards and comes in multiple languages.

I regularly offer training to aspiring Flow Game Hosts. If you feel called to learn how to use this powerful tool, find out when the next training is taking place.

The next trainings:

  • Online from June 2025
  • 26 - 28 September in Denmark

Contact me to find out how you can take part... 

Learn more & register

You choose the time & focus

One-on-one Coaching

One of the best ways to feel more solid in the world is to discover and claim your personal core stories and how you work with them.

Maybe you want to focus your leadership. You want to prepare a presentation or an important group meeting. You want to shine at an event or brainstorm your future.

There's no one better to work with this on than Mary Alice. Her years of experience, her keen ear and her mastery of provocative questions will be at your service.  You will gain an expanded awareness of your both your issues and your strengths. You'll come away realizing your story is your ally and you have wisdom on tap.

During your one-on-one sessions with Mary Alice, you'll receive all the support you need to find and shape the story you want to work with. You'll get clear and confident about the next steps forward.

Let's create the perfect focus for you to thrive! 
Let's talk!

You pick the date

Play THE FLOW GAME

If you've ever experienced a Flow Game, you know it is a playful way to handle the really serious stuff of life and work. Playing the Flow Game is a great way to get past overwhelmed and stuck and into a new view of the future, either as an individual or group.

Three simple steps can lead to clarity and a sense of fresh direction:

  • Have a look at what really matters to you right now
  • Shape a question
  • Bring it to the Flow Game

Together with a small circle of players we'll go on a journey that will move you from stuck to sure, and from  uncertain to confident.

With the serendipity of the Game and the other players at your back as Wisdom Council, you'll find it easier --and more fun -- to uncover your next steps.

Also ideal for teams and families, wherever they find themselves.

Find out more about the Flow Game and reserve your spot at the table!

In person or online
Find out more

Tokyo, January 21  

The Art of Powerful Questions

No matter if you engage in social or environmental changes as an activist, team leader, coach, evaluator, donor or policy maker, finding, crafting and sharpening a powerful question is a key leadership and life skill.

Simply offering a question already sets something in motion – it is the simplest intervention you can make into any system. A powerful question is a doorway into a different perspective, even a new reality.

During the morning we will take a deeper look at how to find and work with questions that matter to you. You'll take away both new insight and ways to work practically with the art of questions.

In the afternoon we'll take these questions into The Flow Game and practice being Wisdom Council for each other. You'll gain a new perspective on what matters most and experience what it can be like when everyone you meet is actively on your success team.

This workshop will be preceded by an open Art of Hosting Practice Day for anyone who wants to learn more about participatory practice, deepen their skills and connect with others.

Followed by a Flow Game Host Training 24 - 26 January.  

Learn more & register

Prague, Nov 13  

The Art of Powerful Questions/The Art of Participatory Leadership

Join us in Prague for two half day workshops at the Evaluation Conference. 

Join The Art of Powerful Questions workshop and learn more about how questions can be a powerful tool to help evaluators -- and anyone working with groups -- achieve better connection and stronger outcomes.

Join The Art of Participatory Leadership workshop and learn more about how both practice and methods can make a fundamental difference to the performance of any group.

This conference is hosted by the Czech government and these workshops are FREE, but you must register by 30 October.

Learn more & register

July 1

Flow Game Host Gathering

How do we together host space(s) for the Flow Game to do its work for the world? 

An opportunity for trained Flow Game hosts to come together online as practitioners to meet, connect & deepen their practice together.

The same 3 hour program will be offered twice – once to suit Europe/North America and once to suit Asia/Pacific based hosts -- so that everyone in the world can attend.

You'll be inspired, you'll learn tools and tips for expanding your practice and you'll hear from seasoned practitioners in the field.

Meet other Hosts around the world

Come and meet your community of practice and be strengthened.

Be inspired by stories of practice

Learn how others use the Flow Game in new and innovative ways.

Get your questions answered

Bring your burning questions about playing and hosting the Flow Game. 

The event is FREE, but you must be registered to receive the reminder emails and Zoom links.

Register now!

Online Nov 19, 26 + Dec 3, 10

Beyond Facilitation

Keys to working with conflict & divisiveness 

It's time to master the essence of extraordinary hosting! 

Claim your space as part of this series of four crucial sessions with experienced hosts and stewards Amy Lenzo (World Cafe) & Mary Alice Arthur (Art of Hosting). Join us as we take a deeper look at how to work with conflict and divisiveness using the methodology of Collective Story Harvest 

We are exploring one of the most invaluable gifts from the Art of Hosting Community -- The Fourfold Practice. Along the way, we will discover the deeper power and purpose that a personal and professional practice can bring to your work with groups, and see can how mastering it can become the cornerstone to your life and work.

  • September 12 – Mastering the Fourfold Practice (where we’ll be joined by Toke Møller, the co-creator of the FourFold Practice!). 
  • September 19 – Personal Practice Makes All the Difference 
  • September 26 – Real Results in the Real World 
  • October 3 – Taking a Systemic View 
More information & to register

Online August 22 - 24

Australasian Change Days

The theme is practices, potentials and play. For three days a lively community of change makers will be exploring the edges and practices of change in a new way.

This successful virtual event is now in its 5th year and brings together leaders, facilitators, and participants from all over the world and across Australia, each contributing emerging ideas and practices. And this year, we’re thrilled to expand our offerings to include some in-person elements, enriching the experience even further.

Join our generous community where you’ll have the opportunity to engage in profound discussions, learn new techniques, and expand your network nationally and internationally.

With a lineup of local, interstate, and international facilitators, Australasian Change Days promises to be an event like no other, where the richness of insight and generosity within the community truly makes it a game-changer.

During this free online conference I will be offering a plenary session on The Fourfold Practice -- a practice pattern at the core of the Art of Hosting. It is an invaluable support for change agents to find their foundations and strength in times of great change.

Find out more & register

Innsbruck, Austria, May 4

Come in -- Chill out -- Connect Together

It's time for those who practice Art of Hosting and those interested in participatory practice to gather!

You are warmly welcome to join us in a time when we will come together, connect and share the magic of Art of Hosting.

If your practice has been on pause or sleeping, if you've been deeply in it, if you remember how it feels to host together and create brave and transformational spaces, this is for you!

We will gather in celebration of everything that we have learned, are learning now and are creating into the future.

While the main language will be German, whatever language you speak, we'll make sure you have a great time!

There will be other events to attend on the Friday before and the Monday after this informal gathering. And Innsbruck is a lovely place to enjoy!

All are Welcome. 

Hosted with the kind support of Haus der Begnung 

Register

Aug 27 - Sept 1

AoH Practitioners Gathering 

Last year marked 10 years since our landmark international practitioners gathering at Štatenberg in Slovenia, and 20 years since the beginnings of AoH nearby. When we gathered again in 2022, it felt like both the end of a first cycle and the beginning of something new. That’s why we named our event Homecoming.

Now in 2023, we feel called to light the fire again and invite our global practice field to gather once more.

This year our calling question is: What is hosting now – and how can staying in practice together serve us and the world? 

Our focus will be around practice -- what are the edges, the boundaries and the calls to deepen what we know and take it to new places? Our intention is to take inspiration and solace from nature and to allow ourselves to be held, hosted and nourished by the land around us. 

This is a gathering for practitioners to focus on their practice together. We welcome practitioners from all types of participatory practice modalities to come and share. And we invite participants from all over the world.

You are warmly invited to join us!

Statenberg, Slovenia 

Learn more & register

Würzburg, Germany Sept 23

Flow Game Host Meet-Up 

All trained Flow Game Hosts are invited to a Meet-Up in the heart of the wine region of Germany. What better place to enjoy each other's company, be inspired by sharing stories and deepen our ties as a practice community. 

As some Flow Hosts are gathering to be part of an event called THRIVE! we thought -- as long as we are together, let's invite the others to join us!

Würzburg is a great place to meet and enjoy the local hospitality. We invite you to a Saturday afternoon of practice and an evening of sharing stories, food and wine.

We will offer some light hosting and co-create our time together.

Afternoon & evening of 23 September in Würzburg, Germany 

See more & Register your interest

December 27

Join us at the fire 

Join us for a time of story and ceremony, where we'll blend sacred space with sharing our hearts. We'll remember where we've been and dream about the future. We'll practice human being-ness together.

Through the magic of Spatial-chat, we'll be sitting in a circle around a crackling fire. We can't wait to see you.

Online Monday, December 27 for 2.5 hours beginning at 10:00 Pacific / 1:00 pm Eastern / 19:00 CET.

We're looking forward to  a time of story & ceremony together to bring this challenging year to a graceful completion. 

If there is enough demand we will hold an additional circle on the 28th. 

Claim your seat the fire

Online Dec 28 & 29

THRIVE!

“I know it’s time to think bigger, to step into my power, to rise to the next level. I want to make 2024 my year, but I don’t know how!”

Something is calling for change. The old ways of being and working just aren't working anymore.

Maybe it's the job that doesn't fit. Maybe it's an outworn identity that's too small and no longer serving.

THRIVE! is a workshop for people who want to live their power.

Using the powerful building blocks of personal story, potent questions and wisdom council, THRIVE! offers you the gift of considering who you want to be, what that looks like and how you can get there. 

Working with your personal story, we will find and craft a powerful question and take it into the Flow Game.

You will come away with a deep sense of commitment to your next significant steps into your vibrant future, as well as a network of others to support you.

We've specifically chosen days when the world seems to pause -- a time "in-between."

Join us online and take a time of retreat and focus for yourself. Step into a circle of transformative power, deep listening and generosity. We'd love to have you with us!  

Two consecutive days

Learn more & register

Online January 1 - 7

By The Fireside

With all the challenges in life, it can be easy to forget the person who most needs your attention, you. The most positive thing you can give to yourself is the gift of knowing and owning your story. Being at home in yourself means the past can offer up wisdom, the present can be an opportunity and the future can present unexpected gifts. With story as your ally you know yourself as capable, confident, and competent. You can weather what comes.

Join us around the virtual campfire for a deeply personal journey into your own story. We will support you to turn your story from what defines you into your champion for success.

If you are wondering who you are now, and where your story goes from here; if you want to understand yourself so you can step forward with strength and vision; if you're looking for companions to help you face the unknown with curiosity and courage, then BY THE FIRESIDE is for you. 

Three live sessions, three self-paced videos, two optional Story Cafés to meet with your story buddies.

Guaranteed to jump start your experience and success in 2024!

Let us host you into your own brilliance!

A week long intensive

Learn more & register

Join at any time

THE STORY DOJO Online Community

THE STORY DOJO was created as a place to explore, ideate and practice the power of story. Join us around the virtual campfire as we inquire into a new topic and build capacity and companionship each month.

Focusing on Mary Alice's story practice and her book 365 ALIVE! each month will have a new theme enabling you to step deeper and deeper into the power of story for your life and work.

Your membership includes: 

Fireside Conversation: On the second Monday of the month a speaker or speakers join us to give voice to our theme. Calls last 90 minutes and are recoded.

Office Hours: A place to meet and get input on your stories and answers to your questions. Or adjourn to a "private table" and talk about the topic of your choice. Join us on the fourth Monday of the month any time during the 90 minute window.

A digital library of 50+ hours of content: Eight sessions speaker + Q&A sessions from the 65 ALIVE! livestream series and 75 interviews from the STORY THE FUTURE Online Summit. That's 42 hours of recorded material!

Online meetings second and fourth Monday each month

Both monthly and annual membership options available
Learn more & register

Online Oct 5 & 6 and Oct 12 & 13  

The Art of Powerful Questions

Two online opportunities to join me for The Art of Powerful Questions and journey into the art and skill of finding, crafting and sharpening  powerful questions. Being able to hold space for the bigger questions is a key leadership and life skill and is at the heart of working with group process.

A powerful question is a doorway into a different perspective, even a new reality. 

Join us online to experience this practical workshop from the comfort of your home or office and meet people from all over the world.

On the Saturday we will work with what it takes to find and craft a powerful question. On the Sunday we'll take our questions into the Flow Game to receive wisdom that will support us to take our next potent steps forward.

9:00 - 12:30 Pacific / 12:00 - 3:30 pm Eastern / 18:00 - 21:30 CET both days.

Get a $30 discount for groups of 3 or more. Contact us for details. 

Gain a powerful, practical skill that will make all the difference to yoru life and work! 

Learn more & register

Guelph, September 20  

The Art of Powerful Questions

No matter if you engage in social or environmental changes as an activist, team leader, coach, evaluator, donor or policy maker, finding, crafting and sharpening a powerful question is a key leadership and life skill.

Simply offering a question already sets something in motion – it is the simplest intervention you can make into any system. A powerful question is a doorway into a different perspective, even a new reality.

During the morning we will take a deeper look at how to find and work with questions that matter to you. You'll take away both new insight and ways to work practically with the art of questions.

In the afternoon we'll take these questions into The Flow Game and practice being Wisdom Council for each other. You'll gain a new perspective on what matters most and experience what it can be like when everyone you meet is actively on your success team.

Gain a powerful, practical skill that will make all the difference! 

This workshop will be followed by an optional Art of Hosting practitioner gathering the following day

Learn more & register for either session

Self Paced

A weekly shot of story inspiration

365 ALIVE! comes to your inbox

Sign up for a weekly shot of story inspiration directly to your inbox

Feeling like you could use an energetic shot in the arm when you face the coming week? Running low on inspiration?

My book 365 ALIVE! find your voice. Claim your story. Live your brilliant life. was created to help you discover the power of story and uncover your own best future through the stories you tell. It is full of beautiful images and quotes that form the heart of a 52 week journey.

But I made far more than 52 of these offerings and now they are ready to come to you to light up your imagination and inspire your steps forward.

 Every Sunday, receive an inspiring quote to move your heart, plus a powerful question to tickle your mind.

Let story raise you up!

Free 

Subscribe now!

A simple way to kickstart your storytelling

Love Stories

The past two years have been tough. It’s easy to focus on the drama of it all, but I’ve decided that I’d rather live in a love story.

There are so many ways to express love. One of the best is by sharing stories; reminding people how they’ve sparked love and learning in us and for others.

Stories are a great reminder that we already know how to love. 

And the more we practice, the more love there is. So I’m making this invitation for others to join me in sending out small stories to change the world. One love story at a time…

Every day for 28 days, you'll receive a postcard with a prompt.

Use it to think about a story and send it to someone you care about. Maybe someone you haven't seen for awhile. Or someone you haven't spoken to for a long time. Say something that's in your mind and on your heart. There's no better time then now.

Choose your contribution

Join the LOVE STORIES Team

Self-paced

IMAGINE (8 modules)

WHAT IF... this were your best year yet – a time when everything comes together, when your passion and purpose ignites, when you have the courage to shine and manifest all you can imagine for yourself?

IMAGINE is an eight session online adventure you can join from anywhere in the world, designed to create the focus and intention to carry you into the stratosphere to live your dreams.!

You'll have on-going access to the material to support your unfolding journey and a circle of virtual companions through our closed Facebook group. Self-paced sessions hosted by Mary Alice Arthur & Holger Scholz.

If you join us for IMAGINE, you'll also be offered FREEDOM, a step-by-step guide to creating your best year yet.

Self-paced

US$67

If you join IMAGINE, you also receive a discount for FREEDOM

Purchase

Self-paced

FREEDOM (8 modules)

FREEDOM is not something outside of you, it is something that you can create for yourself. What better time is there than in this season of challenge and change? Join our vibrant international community online right now to explore and claim your biggest horizon.

Are you ready to take flight? Start today by finding and living your FREEDOM. Self-paced sessions hosted by Mary Alice Arthur & Holger Scholz.

Eight days of practical and inspirational material plus the support of people around the globe will challenge you to take the leap.

If you join us for FREEDOM, you'll also be offered IMAGINE, a step-by-step guide to creating your best year yet for a special bundle price.

Self-paced

US$67

If you join FREEDOM, you also receive a discount for IMAGINE

Purchase

Storymaking & story shaping

65 ALIVE! 2022 (Five 90 minute sessions)

Add some fuel to your fire with five session on the power & practice of story. A new theme and new story practitioners, thought leaders and artists each session. 

The recording includes the 65 minute livestream Q&A with the daily guests. 

Our themes are:

  • Women & men & power: What do our stories tell us about how women and men see power? Where do we go from here?
  • What is work now? What do we dream possible in the world of work and how do we tell this new story?

  • Letting the wolf in: Thinking about and working with difficult stories

  • The spirit of story -- how the past fuels. the future: How are the stories of the past & present influencing our future? What stories are we making & breaking?

  • Story as activism: When we change our stories, we can change the world. What does that look like in practice?

US $45 

Purchase

Hear story thought leaders

65 ALIVE! 2021 (Eight 90 minute sessions)

Eight special days with a different theme and different speakers each day. In this package you get access to both the original panel conversations and to the Q &A sessions that happened afterwards. You will also be able to download the graphic harvests of each session.

Speakers include Peter Block, Christina Baldwin, Juanita Brown, Toke Paludan Møller and many others.

Topics include:

  • Crafting your compelling story
  • Finding your voice
  • Claiming our stories around what matters
  • What if we're all leaders?
  • Story is our connection
  • Story as activism
  • Story & the community of belonging
  • Story as a practice of peace

US $45

Purchase

Learn from top practitioners & storytellers

STORY THE FUTURE Online Summit (75 speakers)

Enjoy more than 40 hours of interviews with story practitioners and storytellers around the world, a treasure trove of expertise on all facets of storytelling and storywork.

There's never a better time to learn more about story than now! The more you know about the power and practice of story, the stronger a foundation you have for creating your own future.

Story wisdom is timeless wisdom. 

Each of the 75 interviews included here spotlights a different aspect of story work. You'll learn about how to tell a compelling story, how to work with stories in communities and at work, why story is a modality that supports the move toward equality, healing from trauma and awakening potential. You'll learn how focusing on the power of story is shifting journalism, activism, international law and much, much more.

42 hours of recorded material

Originally priced at US$197, now $85

Purchase