Space Invaders? (Inclusion -- Chris Corrigan)

[Toni Petrinovich]

John, good points and many well-taken.

Question:  In your words: " Is there a shadow so dark that it cannot be
allowed in?  I think so."

Do you feel or believe that if an open space group is strong in their
ability to hold the space (and by that I imply "strong enough") that there
would be an opportunity for there to be no shadow too dark?  Can it be
relative?  Can it be that man draws to him/herself that which needs to come
and, therefore, when the "invader" comes, if the group is in integrity and
strength that they could hold the space for that being?  Wondering. . . .

Toni Petrinovich
www.sacredspaceswa.com
sacred at anacortes.net


----- Original Message -----
From: "John Dicus" <jdicus at ourfuture.com>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2001 7:47 AM
Subject: Re: Space Invaders? (Inclusion -- Chris Corrigan)


> Dear Chris,
>
> Part of me wants to let this space-invader thing go because we're probably
> speaking to different facets of the same territory.  I imagine most of us
> would go to extraordinary lengths to be inclusive.  Yet I feel a larger
> issue propelling me: over-inclusiveness.  Particularly in a global
context.
>
> In the practice of OS, things that might seem inconsequential make a big
> difference.  An open invitation (to come or not) is important.  Free
choice
> is important.  We don't want to take or create prisoners.  We need to be
> careful (not afraid) when we use the word facilitator.  Sometimes we're
> teachers or leaders.  Sometimes we're followers. We're always stewards.
> We're always building towards higher levels of co-stewardship and
> co-responsibility.  If we do well, and do it from a centered place of
> service, the atmosphere seems to promote good things and space invasion
> hardly ever rears its head.  But to say it never does seems wrong to me.
> If a true space invader were to materialize and begin to take over, it may
> be the result of shirking some responsibility rather than the result of
> one's own baggage broaching the surface.
>
> A quick note on "doing nothing" when we facilitate.  I've got a poem
called
> "For Julia, In The Deep Water. In this poem there's a description of a
> mother helping her daughter to learn.  It draws a parallel between
learning
> to live in life and struggling into water over your head.  The mother is
> "holding space."  It says, "Your mother is down at the deep end, waiting.
> She is doing nothing, and she never did anything harder."  Here's my take:
> when Harrison says "OS is easy, just go do it," he's partly right and
> partly wrong.  Partly wrong because I believe he does about one-thousand
> unconscious things per hour, learned from many years of experience, and
> that come from an extremely deep, caring place.  Of course people can
learn
> to do them.  But when we deny the beautiful higher-order structure of an
> Open Space society by ignoring that it has a structure (different though
it
> may be), or when we pretend that we do nothing to achieve open space, we
do
> ourselves a disservice.  Harrison says what he says, I believe, to show
> humility and to be encouraging, but there's a lot of stuff inside him that
> doesn't meet the untrained eye.
>
> Even though, as I said, part of me wants to let this inclusive issue go,
> part of me says that it's not a trivial point.
>
> I believe (as you wrote) that space invaders violate our own standards and
> certainties as facilitators.  And I agree that it's possible that space
> invaders may be operating out of passion and courage.  And I agree that
> labeling people as space invaders says a lot about us.
>
> I believe more fully, however, that space invaders not only violate our
own
> standards and givens as facilitators, but they violate some larger and
more
> generally accepted standard as well.  I believe that labeling people as
> space invaders not only says a lot about ourselves, but says something
> peculiar about the person being labeled as well.  These are not either/or
> issues to me, rather both/and issues.
>
> Yes, it takes a lot of courage for someone to stand against the mainstream
> flow of thought and speak what may turn out to be troubling words --
> disrupting the status quo.
>
> But, I do not think it takes courage to be a space invader.  I believe
that
> invading space is the path of least resistance for the weak.  A space
> invader does not try to rise to the occasion, rather he/she tries to lower
> the occasion to their level of comfort.  A space invader trashes service
in
> the pursuit of selfish-interest.  These points provide a few windows into
> who might or might not be a space invader.
>
> In the end, if the container provided by the opening and holding of space
> ceases to grow anything of value (in the broader sense), then the
container
> may contain something that does not enable.  To pretend we're not
> particular about what's in the container (or not in the container) is to
be
> intentionally blind to our deepest shared passions and the deepest regions
> of our own human structure -- our shared conceptual beliefs and values.
> Does the shadow belong in the container?  Or is it best to only admit an
> awareness of it?  Is there a shadow so dark that it cannot be allowed in?
> I think so.
>
> I have passion for the pursuit of sustainability.  There is, in my view,
> too much political-correctness on lists.  People are afraid to be open and
> say what they believe.  People instead try too hard to be accepted when
> they write.  Or they succumb to the notion they won't be accepted --
> deciding not to write because they believe they have little to contribute.
> And of course there's always the stampede to rush in and fix people when
> they offer their views.  It always makes me wonder why lists that are
> supposed to be about Learning Organizations, Open Space, and Dialogue
leave
> so little space for a people to just "be."  To just be who they are.  Are
> we not a work in progress?  Robert Fulghum said in his book
(Kindergarten),
> "Don't be surprised if I contradict something I just said a few paragraphs
> ago.  After all, I don't know everything yet."
>
> I'm willing to say I believe in good and bad.  In good people and bad
> people.  I believe in right and wrong.  I don't believe that "just
> anything" and every belief is constructive.  My mom (80) is pretty
> permissive.  Her mother was over-restrictive.  I feel fortunate that I
> spent a few summers on Aunt Iney's farm in Indiana.  She would cut to the
> core and simply say, "John, right is right and wrong is wrong.  What you
> just did is wrong. Don't do it again, okay? Good!  I love you...now go
> play."  I have found that her clarity, combined with my mother's hesitance
> to render consequences, a healthy place to be.
>
> I'm reminded of a piece in Parker Palmer's "Courage To Teach."  He speaks
> of extreme relativism and extreme absolutism.  In this I find hope for
> sustainability.
>
> To provide a little background, he speaks of "The Great Things" that we're
> constantly in danger of losing.  They may fade, or become hidden from
view.
>  "The Great Things" he speaks of are: Inviting diversity into our midst;
> Embracing ambiguity; Welcoming creative conflict; Practicing honesty;
> Experiencing humility; and Remaining free by overcoming tyranny.
>
> He says that, "The Great Things disappear in the face of both absolutism
> and relativism.  With absolutism, we claim to know precisely the nature of
> Great Things, so there is no need to continue in dialogue with them -- or
> with each other.  The experts possess the facts, and all that remains is
> for them to transmit those facts to those who do not know."
>
> "With relativism," he continues, "we claim that knowledge depends wholly
on
> where one stands, so that we cannot know anything with any certainty
beyond
> our personal point of view.  Once again, there is no need to continue in
> dialogue with Great Things or with each other: one truth for you, another
> for me, and nevermind the difference.  Of course the Great Things do not
> disappear in reality -- they only disappear from our view."
>
> This is why I feel so strongly about the conversation pertaining to space
> invaders -- both in a ballroom and in the world at large.  I'd like to
hear
> a more balanced dialogue as we offer OS, and as we move forward from
09/11/01.
>
> >
> >In a truly open OST meeting, as facilitators
> >do we have the audacity to say that
> >some people are merely participants and
> >some are space invaders?  By what right
> >or authority do we have that ability?
> >
>
> Maybe it is audacious.  But maybe it's responsible, too.  Are there roles
> of appropriate leadership we are refusing to step into?  Do we have the
> courage?  Perhaps our time "on the job" in life bestows us with that
> implied authority.  Implied because life has sacrificed for us and has
> trained us.  Because there is no one but us.  Are we afraid to show
> leadership because we don't know how to get it perfect?  We gain ability
> through practice.
>
> >
> >In a broader sense, who are we to
> >say who are valid participants in the
> >world and who are not?  It seems to
> >me that we in the west will be
> >making that choice very soon.
> >I have a lot of fear about that right.
> >
>
> We should fear, but not in immobility.  We have to try.  I hope and pray
it
> will be the whole world, not just the west, making sustainable choices.
If
> it is the whole world, our pain will be eased because the whole world
cares
> and shares our hurt.  It will cry with us.  If it is the whole world, then
> everyone will be making the future safe together, and we (in the US) can
> afford to catch some sleep while someone else stands watch.  We need to
> rest.  We're very tired.  We've been awake for over a week now.
>
> Thank-you, Chris.
>
> John
>
> --
> John Dicus  |  CornerStone Consulting Associates
> - Leadership - Systems Thinking - Teamwork - Open Space - Electric Maze -
> 2761 Stiegler Road, Valley City, OH 44280
> 800-773-8017  |  330-725-2728 (2729 fax)
> mailto:jdicus at ourfuture.com  |  http://www.ourfuture.com
>
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