One more OSONOS has passed into history. Janet Pinto was indeed the hostess with the very "mostest". And while all OSONOS's are special, this one seemed to me to have a special magic and significance. Part of the magic was doubtless the ambiance of Goa. It is half a world away (for me), but worth every mile. And of course, the wonderful people who came (as always!).
What was truly significant to me came in two packages. The first I might call maturation. Although it is true that we had one or two issues under the heading of what I might call "nuts and bolts" or practicalities of Open Space - they were very few and far between. And the perennial chestnut, How do you Sell Open Space?, never even showed up. All of the issues ran on a deeper level, I thought. The second package was what I might call generational change. The number of younger (and new) faces was striking, and even more striking was the commitment and knowledge they brought to the table. Some really significant work going on, and it was indeed an honor to sit at their feet. Some years back it seemed to me to be most important to make it clear that OS was not (and never had been) a "Harrison" thing. And so I found it useful to take a step back, at least in terms of hosting the OSONOS - having complete confidence that all would work perfectly. And it has. It now seems that another point of passage has arrived with the appearance of younger souls all ready, willing, and obviously capable of pushing to new levels. Next year (2005) Open space will be 20 years old, and as my dear friend Anne Stadler pointed out, I will be 70. Retirement has never seemed much of a option for me, if only because I have never been quite sure that I ever went to work. Be that as it may, it is absolutely apparent that Open Space is far from retirement; indeed it may be just now coming into its full power. In the past 20 years, we have obviously run the Beta Tests - and all systems seem to be more than operational. And beyond the practicalities, I think we have plumbed a few of the depths in terms of how and why OS works, while simultaneously coming to a clearer understanding of how to work most effectively with it. None of this is to suggest that the end of innovation and exploration has arrived - but I do think Open Space is ready for duty in all sorts of wonderful ways, better meetings being only a small part of the equation. And all of this has occurred not a moment too soon, for the world as we are experiencing it (at least as I am experiencing it) requires all sorts of new and enriching space. It has been quite a ride up until now, and so far as I can see, the most exciting part has already begun. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20845 Phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives 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: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
