Thank you Harrison. I have been struggling for some time with a short story commission bringing eureka¹ science moments together with fiction, the one I¹m working on being Minkowski¹s understanding (rather than an actual eureka moment) that brought time together with the 3 dimensions of space, making sense of Einstein¹s Special theory of relativity, so it could become the General Theory of Relativity. It¹s a fairly simple understanding (ie, that time is a fourth dimension and should be added to the three dimensions of space for full understanding), but it revolutionised science and is based on some extremely complex understandings that I can barely begin to grasp at, and therefore I assume might also be, at least, tricky for the average reader. Everything is Moving¹ is the kick-off point I have been waiting for. (and knowing would come.) In gratitude, Stella x http://stelladuffy.wordpress.com
On 22/8/10 10:49 pm, "Harrison Owen" <[email protected]> wrote: > Our friend Suzanne Daigle sent me a note saying that it seemed I had been very > quiet on OSLIST. It is true that I appreciate silence, but the real truth is, > I was just thinking. Dangerous I know, but what follows is the result and > you can blame it all on Suzanne (Joke!). So what do you think? > > ************************************************************** > > A long time ago a good friend, Ralph Copleman, was to be found in the middle > of a large circle of peers dressed in a flowing cape and repeating the words, > ³Everything is moving, Everything is moving.² Odd to say the least and some > doubted Ralph¹s sanity. Some still do, but that image has stuck in my febrile > brain ever since and as time has passed it occurs to me that Ralph had it > precisely right: This is an energetic cosmos. The problem arises when we (and > that includes all of us some of the time) desperately want everything to stop > and stand still. So desperately in fact that we have created a mental image of > our environment exclusively populated by static things which include > everything from mountains to super nova along with the oddments of our life > like professions, chairs, relationships, organizational structures, > corporations, countries and empires. Unfortunately this mental image is a > radical illusion, one might say delusion. Ralph is right. Everything is moving > and what we perceive as stable structures are but the momentary, slice in > time, freeze-frame constructs of our imagination. > > Heresy? Psychobabble? Advanced esoteric insight? None of the above, I > think. As a matter of fact, Ralph¹s observation is nothing but a short > (poetic?) version of the (now) standard scientific understanding of the nature > of the cosmos. Starting with the Big Bang it is all flowing energy, albeit now > clumped in momentary configurations but still flowing energy for all of > that. Scratch any rock hard enough and its essential nature comes through a > whirring bunch of quarks and neutrons doing the cosmic dance. Doubtless my > physicist friends would take issue with my phrasing but not, I think, with > the core message. Everything is moving. > > So what does all this have to do with the price of eggs? Or for that matter > Open Space and our role as facilitators and consultants? A lot, I believe. > > Starting with Open Space which is many things to different people. For some it > is a Large Group Intervention. Others might see it as an aberrant phenomenon > peculiar to a cultish few. For myself Open Space is a trial ride in the flow > of life which has a lot of similarities to my boat. > > My boat is smallish in size (32 feet) but definitely larger than the average > punt. She is very seaworthy and shares a common heritage with the local > Lobster Boats here in Maine. We have many visitors, most of whom have never > been on a boat such as the Ethelyn Rose. When you walk on board, things look > sort of familiar. Chairs for sitting, a comfortable nook for dining, and even > an oriental rug on the floor excuse me, sole. If you look further there are > the standard amenities such as a shower and commode, all sequestered in their > separate quarters. Even a complete landlubber will feel more or less at home. > > But the moment we leave the dock the world changes apparent stability yields > to constant motion. Everything is moving even if it seems to be staying in the > same place! In the harbor motion is minimal, but the moment we clear the > breakwater marking the harbor entrance the experience can be radically > different. Sea swells from the open Atlantic Ocean take us up and down in > distances measured in yards, and should we have a good cross wind the surface > chop adds an interesting side to side motion. The Ethelyn Rose is right at > home, but some of our visitors have a different impression. And navigating in > these conditions is a definite learning experience. Even a simple walk through > the main cabin can be a challenge. Hand holds that you had carefully plotted > at the start of your journey suddenly changed position relative to you as you > made your way. What was up is now down and who knows what is happening in > between. Interesting, and as they say, It ain¹t Kansas. > > Most people meet the challenge and after a few educational bumps to various > parts of their anatomy they learn not to fight reality. No matter what you may > have thought you were going to do, the only useful option is to go with the > flow. And the next level of learning is that when you do that well (flow) you > can actually arrive where you need to be. Wonderful! Sounds a lot like Open > Space. > > We start in the static stability of a circle. This may seem strange to some, > but there is a place for everybody and everybody finds a place. A familiar and > enduring structure for sure. Then it happens. The circle crumbles in bits and > pieces as people come to center, announcing their passions only to be > briefly restored as they return to their seats. However the restoration is but > momentary. Shortly everybody leaves their seats to join a chaotic gaggle at > the wall. So much for static structure, and it goes downhill from there. > > Ebbing and flowing, groups form and reform all without benefit of the standard > constraints essential for orderly organizational lifeor so we might have > thought. Pre-arranged agenda (sometimes called Mission, Goals, Objectives) is > nonexistent. The Schedule might be posted but never followed things start > when they start. Assigned participation is nowhere to be found, and yet the > right people show up. And to make things even worse, the air is filled with > buzzing and flutters as Bees and Butterflies do their thing. Madness! To be > sure there may be a few people who are utterly flummoxed as the hand holds > they may have expected (see above under ³Ethelyn Rose at Sea²) disappear . . . > or reappear in unexpected places. Their condition is not helped, for should > they ask what to do the answer is likely to come back as a question What > would they care to do? > > A trifling few will lose heart and head for the shore perceived stability. > But the vast majority, as we have seen over the years and around the globe, > will be totally captivated by the moment, and a smaller group will experience > that moment as total exhilaration. They are doing what their prior life > experience taught them could not be done seriously and intentionally going > with the flow. And rather than being rank hedonism, the experience proves to > be massively productive and fulfilling. Doing well and good and feeling > great. A hard to beat combination. > > And then we come to Monday Morning. Back to reality, as they say. But is it? > The truth, I believe is rather different. They have experienced reality and > come to the edge of shedding illusion/delusion. In the words of friend Ralph, > ³Everything is moving² and this is now a fact of life to be savored and > enjoyed. No longer a terrifying unknown, it is to be affirmed and embraced. > Not without a few ³white knuckle² moments to be sure but infinitely better > than hanging onto the (illusory) rock of stability. > > So what about us those privileged folks who have accepted the honor of > opening space in people¹s lives? Short answer: Invite our guests over the > edge. Please note I did not say, Push them over the edge. > > Crafting this invitation is always a matter of personal style and must come > from the heart. The invitation I have in mind never appears on a piece of > paper (or the electronic equivalent). It arrives in our personhood who we > are and how we present ourselves, which is to say, from the heart. Not to be > confused with a gushy valentine or formulaic presentation, the invitation > manifests in our simple presence, revealing our own acceptance and joy in the > moving flow of life. Without words we express the swimmer¹s call: Come on in, > the water is fine! Of course you have to be in the water for that call to have > any credibility. > > It is perhaps easier to say how NOT to create this invitation. First off, it > is not a matter of rational argument and presentation of facts. Most people > already know the facts at some level, and I think the case could be made that > it was ³rational argument² that has gotten us into the bind we experience. > Given the ³fact² of a moving, changing world which can be very uncomfortable, > it is quite ³rational² to define that world in terms of controllable static > chunks that may be contained, or better, bent to our specifications. This has > led us to such wonderful things as ³Flood Control² which works until such time > as Mother Nature and Old Man River decide to take a different course. It turns > out that The River is not a static, definable thing but part of a vast ever > changing system. Effective Flood Control would require close management of the > Planet¹s atmosphere to say nothing of the cosmos beyond. Good luck! > > Also under the heading of ³NOT to be included² are well intentioned efforts to > sugar coat the pill, as it were. Which is to say that we might propose certain > limitations that will restrict the possibility of change in Open Space. Some > of us have called these ³givens² but so far as I can tell the only given is > change itself. And to suggest otherwise is not so much to violate the ³Spirit > of Open Space² but rather the essence of the cosmos itself. Ralph had it > right: Everything is moving. In this context, Open Space Technology is a > minimal consideration. > > I am by no means suggesting that our invitation look like the back panel of > some medication listing every possible adverce reaction, if in fact unexpected > change is such an adverce reaction. And truth to tell I find the appearance of > unexpected change in the midst of an Open Space to be one of its (OS¹s) most > delightful consequences. I also think that it is important to note the OS is > not the engine of change. It simply provides the space for change to show up > and the cosmos (or whatever) takes care of all the heavy lifting. > > For me an invitation to Open Space is an opportunity to include friends and > strangers in the deepest experience of (my) life. It has little to do with > selling a product, doing a process, excersizing some sort of professional > competence although there are doubtless elements of all of that. > Fundamentally it is my invitation to experience life at its fullest in which > chanagability is not the enemy to be suppressed but rather the rich tapestry > of an evolving future. I don¹t make it, I can¹t predict it but I can > participate both as a sojourner and a co-creator. Stuart Kauffman speaks of > being ³At Home in the Universe.² That is my elemental experience, and I am > always looking for playmates. > > Harrison Owen > 7808 River Falls Dr. > Potomac, MD 20854 > USA > Phone 301-365-2093 > www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com> > www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com> (Personal Website) > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> : > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > * * ========================================================== > [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, > unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
