Wow Peggy. My experience with kids, youth and young folks is that no amount of chaos or mess deters them in Open Space. They find their way to posting sessions and connecting to the discussions they want to be involved in.
You mention that the theme was fear-based, but what struck me was how focused it was on individual action, contribution and responsibility. I'm willing to be that in inviting people to reflect on the ways in which they could personally deal with the forces around them you calmed their fear. A theme like "How can I contribute to employers not canceling work for us now and in the future?" says that the answer is within me, and so it's a matter of focusing and bringing forth action from a place I deeply care about and own. Knowing that one owns one's liberation is a powerful and empowering moment. Your constant interventions, and those of your team, served to support that space in being open, in which that dawning sense of empowerment was invited to emerge. As for the comment that day one was the apocalypse and day two was heaven, well, that holds the record for a day two "bounce!" It's a great story, and I'm left with an overall sense of awe at your group, as I always am. It's a rare and astonishing moment when hundreds of young people find their power in Open Space. Events like this truly change many single lives all at once. Andres needs to become a master storyteller because the story these kids are writing is set to unfold over a generation. Congrats Peggy and thanks for sharing this. Chris -- ------------------------- CHRIS CORRIGAN Consultation - Facilitation Open Space Technology Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com * * ========================================================== 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
