This is awesome Chris - thanks for sharing this experience with us.
For me - it so beautifully illustrates the 'whatever happens...' principle - it gives a different and so much more powerful meaning to what we might consider 'success' to be - it speaks to me of a deeply spiritual and compassionate presence with the community without needing to fix, manage or control their issues - it models a truly courageous and insightful interpretation of being a facilitator Brendan At 12:37 AM 12-03-2004 -0800, you wrote: But Reinhard, I have also experienced this situation of holding space from another angle, as the facilitator for an Open Space meeting to which no one came. It was in a small and very troubled First Nations community, racked with violence and drug abuse, and no one, not even my sponsor showed up for a community meeting at which 70 people were expected. I found myself in a strange situation, and instead of packing up, I stayed and consciously held space for the community. I figured that I was there for a reason, and they knew about Open Space and the role of the facilitator, so I played that role, sitting in the longhouse alone, in a half-meditative state, holding open the possibility for healing in the community and reflecting on what it means to hold space. I had a copy of the Tao Te Ching with me, which made excellent reading. * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
