I feel wholesome, having tuned into the circle yesterday.
Today, while facilitating an Open Space related session with a sponsor, there
was a moment of acknowledgement for Harrison and the sincere desire for showing
gratitude, expressed by a team member. They talked about this amongst
themselves. As I listened to the conversation, this suddenly came to me:
Harrison has vacated the circle to let the people do the work.
His presence will continue to be there on some level.
And… the people will now take Open Space - probably even more freely than
before - to wherever the people want to go with it.
As I discovered some years ago:
When the student is ready, the teacher disappears.
My heart is smiling, and my face, too.
Marai
PS: My most touching story with Harrison happened in 2005, at the WOSonOS in
Nova Scotia:
On the first morning I entered the room, right after a big blow-up with my
boyfriend of that time. I was holding myself together outwardly (so I thought),
but inwardly I was a mess.
Passing Harrison who stood close to the door, I greeted him „Good morning“. He
looked at me, closely, caringly, sincerely, and asked: „What’s up with you?“
The next thing I know was being in his arms, crying.
He held me.
Thank you dearly, Harrison, for all the holding you’ve provided.
With love,
Marai
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Marai Kiele
joyful together for co-creativity
* bringing out a team's innate genius*
Bielefeld + Berlin | Germany | internationally
phone: +49 171 - 8107161
> Am 07.04.2024 um 09:45 schrieb Suzanne Daigle via OSList
> <[email protected]>:
>
> A Gentle Reminder
> Honoring Harrison Owen ~ A community comes together
>
> "Camden by the Sea, Virtually and Globally"
>
> April 8th is when it starts… 10AM Eastern Time
>
> It will be over when it’s over…
>
> Place and Space: on ZOOM
>
> https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5694939869?pwd=YUY3Q3puekZ5THljNjFoU2dCTjNuQT09
> <https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5694939869?pwd=YUY3Q3puekZ5THljNjFoU2dCTjNuQT09>
>
> Greetings!
>
> It is time for us to gather and to honor Harrison Owen; to share stories and
> to express our love for him and each other.
>
> Three weeks have gone by since he died on March 16th, 2024.
>
> Such sadness and grief we have all felt and are still feeling.
>
> The expressions of love and gratitude from around the world for Harrison have
> been overflowing; the stories of Open Space moving and inspirational. In
> planning this upcoming virtual gathering, Barry Owen carried the Open Space
> torch for his dad. Trusting we should leave the space open, not rushing too
> fast in setting a time and place for us all to meet. It's how it is when we
> sit in a giant circle, with lots of space in the middle, writing and
> announcing our topics. It's what people have done, head and heart, with such
> passion and emotion.
>
> Barry also reminded us in the planning: “to not work too hard”. It’s what
> dad would have wanted, he said.
>
> So, he, I and others, have waited until NOW, until the right time to invite
> everyone. Day by day, the pieces for this future reunion came together.
>
> Why not create a Virtual Gathering that has the spirit of Camden by the Sea?
> Back then, Harrison would simply rent a space, tell people where and when,
> and that was it. The stories from those days live on, beautiful memories of
> Camden Maine, the place that Harrison called home to the very end.
>
> We then called Lucas Cioffi at QiqoChat. Can you help us? We wanted to take a
> minimalist approach. As always, Lucas was quick to support our ideas.
>
> Together we imagined the Law of Two Feet in action with multiple Zoom
> breakout areas for conversations and blank spaces to write notes and post
> pictures. Nothing more. No formal facilitation or hosting, just us, welcoming
> each other together, holding, and opening more and more space. Trusting this
> beautiful process of Open Space that is so much more.
>
> Harrison’s presence would be felt, as our official facilitator. After all,
> he’s already opened the space for us and is holding it still while napping
> along the way.
>
> The date of the gathering came to us in a flash. Why not April 8th to get
> this started, on the day of the Solar Eclipse. There seemed to be such
> significance to that date, as if a cosmic inspiration, the 8th day of the 4th
> month of 2024. Harrison at age 88 being the pure expression of an infinity
> symbol. And indeed engaging 8 billion people in meaningful conversations is a
> timeless endeavor.
>
> We also decided that there would only be a start time (10 AM, Eastern Time),
> no end time, again in the spirit of Open Space “when it’s over it’s over”
> which implies that life in Open Space will never be over.
>
> The intent is that people from around the globe will flow in and out, on
> their own time zones for a day or two or more. As for every closing circle,
> it will be over when it’s over.
>
> Everyone is invited: Harrison’s family and friends, our global Open Space
> community and so many other colleagues and friends from around the world.
>
> Please help us spread the word ~ everywhere, anywhere and in any way.
>
> With love,
> Barry, Suzanne, Lucas, and many others
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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