Happily heading for bed before a weekend in Paris, loving that the space is open all through (my) night. Stella x
On 26/8/10 11:34 pm, "Suzanne Daigle" <[email protected]> wrote: > Harrison, > > I accept the blame gladly if chiding you for being quiet led to this. > Salutations to Ralph who inspired the "everything is moving" with you > then taking us all on a journey at sea on the Ethelyn Rose. Virtual > Wave Riding on this 25th anniversary year of Open Space. How fitting! > > Of everything that you wrote here, what speaks to me most is this sentence: > > "For me an invitation to Open Space is an opportunity to include > friends and strangers in the deepest experience of (my) life." > > Thank you Harrison for inviting us all as you have all these years > which has led us to invite others and each other in this big global > community. In the spirit of invitation, how I wish I could know and > hear all those who are out there now in the simplicity of this moment > whether it's sitting at the kitchen table like me so glad that the sun > is out after 4 days of gray skies and rain. If anyone feels so > inclined, I invite you to come to the middle of this virtual circle to > write a few words on one of the big white sheets of virtual paper on > the floor. > > It's an invitation to everyone out there to Open a bit of Space to > share for a brief magical moment where you are, how you feel or what's > up with you right NOW, wherever you are! Not much that I know most > days, but one thing I know for sure is that connecting with others > gives me courage and much joy! > > Whimsically curious in Florida, Suzanne > > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 5:49 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 >> >> 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
