Joelle's dream and 4-H camp

Mon May 28 10:08:08 PDT 2001

Joelle wrote to Chris:
       "I was in the midst of a bizarre dream that Paul and I were
building a
house in the mountains of Carolina.  Given how badly Paul does in the
warm,
steamy climate of the southeast, I doubt that this is a prediction of my
own
future.  But there were several things in the dream that I think might be
for
you.
         "We were building a house which seemed quite large, at least in
comparison to
the small one where we now live.  Most of the outer walls had been built,
and
I think there was roof overhead, but INSIDE IT WAS CHAOS." (caps mine)

INSIDE IT WAS CHAOS...
        I have used OS only in facilitating several Maryknoll Mission
conferences (I am a clinical psychologist and former Maryknoll sister)
and always precede opening the space with a short, layperson's,
description of chaos theory taken from the books of Margaret
Wheatley--"Leadership and the New Science" and, especially, "A Simpler
Way."
        In that book, she gives several examples from nature of
self-organization. The one that Joelle's dream reminded me of is of the
tower-building termites of Africa and Australia who individually start
scratching randomly, gradually assemble, and work together in what looks
like a chaotic fashion to construct the tallest structures in the world
relative to their size. Their towers are architectural marvels, complete
with specialized chambers, tunnels, air-conditioning systems, and arches
that meet perfectly in the middle. Entymologists were astounded to
finally realize that there are no engineers, no construction bosses, no
blueprint, no one in charge.
        Wheatley says: "Their behaviors are sophisticated, complex, and
effective. Yet they arise from activities that are messy, unplanned, and
nondirected."
        So, OS gives us humans an opportunity to be (hopefully) as
effective as termites!

Best wishes for the camp's evolution, Chris.
Mary-Elizabeth Ford

Mary-Elizabeth Ford, Psy.D., NYCity
drmef at juno.com

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>From  Mon May 28 18:30:57 2001
Message-Id: <MON.28.MAY.2001.183057.0100.>
Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 18:30:57 +0100
Reply-To: martinleith at theinnovationagency.com
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Martin Leith <martinleith at theinnovationagency.com>
Subject: Lin Grists's post
X-cc: mo at thenew.org
In-Reply-To: <64.e78717e.2843dbf5 at aol.com>
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Just been reading Lin Grist’s post. Another school with similar operating
principles here in the UK is Sands School in Ashburton, Devon. I have a
close friend whose son went there. It was founded by some teachers from
Dartington School (also in Devon) after it closed down following one scandal
too many. If you need to find out more, you can contact Mo Cohen at
mo at thenew.org. Mo is a well known Open Space facilitator.

Best wishes,

Martin

www.theinnovationagency.com <http://www.theinnovationagency.com/>
www.martinleith.com <http://www.martinleith.com/>

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Just been reading Lin =
Grist’s post.
Another school with similar operating principles here in the UK is Sands =
School
in Ashburton, Devon. I have a close friend whose son went there. It was =
founded
by some teachers from Dartington School (also in Devon) after it closed =
down
following one scandal too many. If you need to find out more, you can =
contact
Mo Cohen at mo at thenew.org. Mo is a well known Open Space =
facilitator.<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><!=
[if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Be=
st
wishes,<o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><!=
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<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Ma=
rtin<o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><!=
[if =
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><a=

href=3D"http://www.theinnovationagency.com/">www.theinnovationagency.com<=
/a><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><a=

href=3D"http://www.martinleith.com/">www.martinleith.com</a><o:p></o:p></=
span></font></span></p>

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