Sure, Harrison, Everything is Always Moving , even on that lovely beach. The beat goes on!
Everything is Still Moving, inspiring and expiring. Thanks for reminding us of the "OSLIST Way". Eleder BM31:Bilbao www.burumapak.blogspot.com 2010/8/23 Harrison Owen <[email protected]> > Eleder you (and anybody else) are welcome to use the piece in any useful > way. That of course is the “OSLIST Way” where sharing is always the name of > the game. Your point about coming in and out of the water is important. We > all do it. And after all, a day on the beach is not to be sneezed at (unless > it is cold.) But I think it is useful to remember that even on that lovely > beach, Everything is Moving. I remember lying on Cannon Beach in Oregon and > suddenly recognizing that I (along with everything else) was definitely > rocking and rolling. Earthquake of course, but a useful reminder that the > beat goes on. > > > > Harrison > > > > Harrison Owen > > 7808 River Falls Dr. > > Potomac, MD 20854 > > USA > > Phone 301-365-2093 > > www.openspaceworld.com > > www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > [email protected]: > > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > > > *From:* OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *ELEDER > AURTENETXE PILDAIN > *Sent:* Monday, August 23, 2010 4:31 AM > > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: Everything is Moving: An Invitation to Join the flow > (longish) > > > > Hi Harrison, > > this is an empowering piece, least I can say. > > I myself I´m still coming into and out of water once and again, and this > Monday Morning message is one that really invites me to accept that > everything is moving. I´ll enjoy more of life, sure, as I, fearless, accept > it and flow with it. > > I took the message and re-formatted it for this blog that I called one day > "Flow and Show" > <http://flowandshow.blogspot.com/2010/08/harrison-owen-on-life-open-space-flow.html>and > that I use as a personal notebook. Let me know if it´s ok with you, please. > (Otherwise I´ll delete this post, no problem.) > > This message comes to me the week before we are moving from Bilbao to live > in a small town on the coast, called Mundaka. Now I think it´ll be easier to > leave the dock ;-)! > > Eleder > > 2010/8/22 Harrison Owen <[email protected]> > > 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, “Everything is moving, Everything is moving.” Odd to say the > least and some doubted Ralph’s 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, Ralph’s 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 ain’t 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 life—or 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 “Ethelyn > Rose at Sea”) 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, “Everything is moving” – 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 “white knuckle” 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 people’s 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 swimmer’s 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 “rational argument” that has gotten us into the bind we > experience. Given the “fact” of a moving, changing world which can be very > uncomfortable, it is quite “rational” 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 “Flood Control” > 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 Planet’s atmosphere to say > nothing of the cosmos beyond. Good luck! > > > > Also under the heading of “NOT to be included” 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 “givens” but so far as I can tell the > only given is change itself. And to suggest otherwise is not so much to > violate the “Spirit of Open Space” 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 (OS’s) 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 don’t make it, I can’t predict it – but I can > participate both as a sojourner and a co-creator. Stuart Kauffman speaks of > being “At Home in the Universe.” 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 > > www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > [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 > * * ========================================================== > [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
