Opening Space for Our World

[Harrison Owen]

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am presuming that since you are in my database, you know something about
me and Open Space. If I am in error, please forgive. However, if you have
been wondering what we can do post 9/11, here is a suggestion. Open some
space to let the healing begin.

  If ever there was the necessity for Opening Space, NOW is precisely the
moment. Under a cloud of fear, people and societies inevitably close down,
and actions take place at the most basic reactive level. I suspect this is
totally automatic, natural, and probably necessary as a coping mechanism
for dealing with the unthinkable. So there is no wrong here, but as a long
term strategy, it really will not work -- for all the reasons we know all
too well. This is evolution in reverse, back down into the caves of our
psyche. Remaining in those caves will make the horror of 9/11 seem like
child's play. And there is an alternative,  we know it, and we can help.
Not by ourselves, of course -- but wherever space is opened, in whatever
way that happens (Open Space Technology is not the only path for sure),
Spirit shows up, and healing can begin.  We don't need a plan, a program, a
consensus -- just do it. Whenever, wherever, and however that is possible.
Just do it.

The opportunities are infinite. Right at the moment, creating the space for
folks to gather as we all consider where we are and where we are going is
critical. And down the road, just a little bit, we must consider the hard
practicalities of dealing with a battered economy  necessitating greatly
enhanced efficiency and effectiveness on the part of our organizations and
social systems. When time is short, stakes are high, and resources
constrained -- we know from 16 years global experience in thousands of
instances -- Open Space delivers. Or more exactly, people deliver in Open
Space. It works.

This is not a commercial, for Open Space is, and has always been free. If
you know what I am talking about, and consider yourself a practitioner,
please, I beg you, get on with the business wherever that may be possible.
If you want to know more, the necessary resources are instantly at hand.
Click on www.openspaceworld.com This website supports our training
programs, but you don't need training to open space. Anyone with a good
head and a good heart can do it. This means you. For a quick introduction
(all you need to get started) click
on  http://openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm . And when you need more,
there are lots of books and supportive colleagues.

And of course, if can help in any possible way, please let me hear from
you. Good luck

Harrison


Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854 USA
phone 301-469-9269
fax 301-983-9314
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.mindspring.com/~owenhh

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