Ashley: I think this is the crux of what we have been discussing, whether or not it is possible to even do what you are asking.
But since you put it out there, I'll reply with a nice excerpt from a book I recently noted in my Open Space weblog: "See the world as energy, and become responsible for your energy. Realize that everything you do, say, and touch, everything you pass - even for a fleeting second - is affected and changed by you. You impact the animals and plants; the air, water, and buildings; and people - the energy of each drops or rises to reflect the subtle etheric pressure you place on it. When you are angry, fearful, mean and vindictive, the energy of the room you are in starts to wobble and act chaotically. It metaphysically starts to implode. Anyone standing nearby will be robbed of energy and pulled down. Everything gets sucked into the vortex of your negative implosion. With perception comes responsibility. Understand that if you are infinite you are everywhere, and you can be anywhere, and you are inside all things, and you affect them. Remember that the solidity of the world is an illusion created by the speed at which atoms oscillate. If they slowed down just a little, you'd be able to walk through walls. In an out-of-body experience, you have consciousness inside a subtle body that we believe weighs four grams. You can pass right through the wall. In effect, physical reality is both opaque and ethereal - just a collective feeling. It's only by habit that you consider yourself solid. In a sense, you are a collection of particles, transmuted from being in the solid-particle state of physical existence to the more ethereal wave-state. In the wave-state, you are an amorphous oscillation, existing at no particular place in space or time, with no particular human definition. That wave state contains your consciousness and can be driven by your force of will. Through it, you have an immense potential to exert yourself on the etheric reality. The wave can move, so you move. It's everywhere, so you can be everywhere." * Stuart Wilde, Silent Power I think this is to say, one does it with the subtle influence of rippling action. Empower oneself and the possibility that others will do the same becomes more likely. There are few things more threatening to those who would close space around us than people who have opened space within. And there are few things in the world more inspiring to me. In Open Space, my practice of facilitation is rooted very much in understanding what is open and what is closed for me. I address the self-critic that gnaws away inside me. I ask myself questions, like the ones Byron Katie poses to test my limits and assumptions. My aim is to arrive at the point when I ring my bells in a place that is centered, grounded, empowered and inviting. If I can be there, then I can walk the circle and point out the principles and the Law, and be a conduit for the invitation that the sponsor has issued. Then it's over to the people, and my role becomes one of holding space, like the pillars in a vaulted chamber. I try to keep things open, pushing back a little at those who would close things down. And if people come to me with questions or statements or needs, I ask the two immortal questions introduced to me by Michael Herman: "What do you really want to do?" and "Fine, why don't you take care of it?" I find that these two questions form a practice that does more to hold space open than anything. If I can't ask these questions without residual feelings of "I should do this." then I can't truly sit in the quiet, inviting place that is necessary for empowerment to happen around me and without me. The moment I think I can do things better, especially when it comes to meeting someone else's stated needs, is the moment I lose my power, and the moment I close their space down a little. So for me it's a quantum thing. Keep the possibilities always open. Meegwetch! Chris PS Sorry I keep generating these long replies. I seem to be on a roll. --- CHRIS CORRIGAN Consultation - Facilitation Open Space Technology Bowen Island, BC, Canada http://www.chriscorrigan.com ch...@chriscorrigan.com -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Ashley Cooper Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 5:52 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: opening space...empowerment and motivation amongst these amazing discussions presently taking place on this list (for which i deeply borrow and say the word john introduced, meegwetch.), i would like to ask anyone's opinion on a present struggle of my own. my question is more of an open space question than an OS question! i am a beginning graduate student studying counseling (in route to play therapy). in our introductory course we must choose one theory that "defines" our style (that in itself is a little bit scary for me - why can't i use the good parts of them all!!). these discussions of motivation and empowerment further challenge me to question how does one genuinely attempt to open the space for one other person? to, excuse me for saying it, but empower another to enter their own space? to help create an environment that allows space for another's power to grow? any suggestions?! thanks ashley cooper * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
