Every now and again somebody asks me why I do what I do, with the implication that doing nothing (in Open Space) could get real boring. Of course I never get a question like that from people on this LIST, but you know what I am talking about :-). Anyhow, this morning I received a letter from Dania, a young lady from Indonesia whom I met at the Congress for Imams and Rabbis. In my response to her I said simply, "You made my Day!" - with a little addition and translation of this Americanism. The letter follows. I hope it makes your day as well!
Harrison ********************************************* Dear Mr Owen, My name is Dania Pratiwi. We met at the 2nd world congress of imams and rabbis for peace in Seville, Spain. I came as a student of Children of Abraham. I can still remember our interview in the dining room.. do you remember what I said, that Open Space is a playground? I felt very embarrassed after that.. Well, Open Space is like a playground for me, but I want you to know that I enjoyed it a lot. Open Space give me (and other participants) a freedom. A freedom to choose what we want to do in that congress. Some people joined the sessions. Some people had informal discussions at the lobby. Some people were just sat on the sofa and had their snacks (for HOURS). Some people went to the city. Some people went to their room and sleep (my roomate did this..) we did whatever we wanted, and it was fun! I myself joined a session which conducted by Ari Alexander, Children of Abraham's co-executive director. We had some fun there. After that, it was my turn to conduct the session. But no one came to my session, except Yasser (another Children of Abraham's student. He's my friend) we got bored. we decided to left the session and explored the lobby.Then I saw a rabbi who sat alone. I sat beside him and we had a discussion. After that I explored the lobby again and met another rabbi. I had a discussion with him too. Then I explored the lobby again, and met another rabbi. Talked. met another one. Talked. And another one and another one and another one.. I kept doing that untill dinner time. I love having discussion with the Rabbis, because I've never met a rabbi before. Actually, it was my first time to met Jewish. Most people in Indonesia are Muslims, and I've never met a Jews here. I really enjoyed the discussions! The rabbi were nice to me. Mr Owen, I want to thank you for creating such a 'playground' for us. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to 'play' with the Imams and Rabbis. I had a great time there. I really can't thank you enough for this. Let me know if you have plan to visit Indonesia and conduct the open space system here. I'd love to join you and be your tour guide here! It was nice to meet you, and I hope I can be as great as you someday.. Best regards, Dania Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20854 Phone 301-365-2093 Skype hhowen Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website www.ho-image.com OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html> * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
