hello everyone, been catching up with this thread with interest. thanks for your question, birgitt. it's fun to see so many people together here. i was just remembering what uwe said yesterday (in my time) about open space being harrison's simple packaging of what so many others have talked about before him, and thought i'd send something along here...
in light of uwe's comments, harrison's books seem same as any other books, and by extension, the words "open space" seem not different from the boxes of an org chart or a budget calling for $4.23 earnings per share in the fourth quarter. we all have our own experiences with each, some deeply spiritual, some more technical and mechanistic, but in the end, the meaning of "open space" must dissolve with all other structures in the open space of everyday. and, like every other simplification and/or manifestation of spirit, must be rediscovered everytime we sit with another human being, regardless of and including everywhere that they or we have been. seems to me that whether in an open space event or in everyday open space, we can only be really present in one place at any one moment. so, we have to be fully present here (wherever and with whomever that is now) and trust that everything that is going on elsewhere will work out when we get (fully present) there. so easy to say! ha! my "bubbles" piece that some have seen and others can view at the gosi and osi-usa websites is my latest method at differentiating the technology and the spirit of open space. blowing bubbles is a simple, yet robust, metaphor for what it means to breathe our life into magnificent, physical, yet impermanent, structures. can we ever create a permanent collective container to hold that which dissolves all collective containers? seems safer to carry the powder in our pockets and mix up a fresh batch each morning! like others have already said, i think the powder is our personal understanding of the principles and law. best for now, michael
