OST and the present moment

[Julie Smith]

Michael, Judi and Chris started our OST Practice Workshop with the
question "What is Open Space Technology?"  Many of us in the room had
just finished the 2-day Becoming A Peacemaker conference, so the
question gave us an opportunity to reflect upon what that experience
meant to us.  I had many long minutes to ponder the question as the
microphone traveled through the hands of the 60-or-so people in the
room.

It was a bit of an anxious time for me because I wanted to find the
right words to express my current understanding of OST, AND I knew I
would be in the middle of that circle in a short time, having been
invited to open the space for the practice workshop.

As those minutes ticked by, I calmed my anxiety by concentrating on my
breathing and focusing my mind on the present moment. As I took a long
slow look around the circle, it suddenly occurred to me that OST invites
groups of people to collectively enter that state of being in the
present moment.  I realized the four principles and the one law invite
acceptance of what exists here and now, and full engagement in the
present moment.  What I'm reaching for on the individual level, OST
reaches for on the collective level.  OST is a fractal of the individual
practice of being in the present moment. Same practice at different
scales.

That was a significant insight for me because so often I feel the time I
spend in collective activities, like my job, require levels of planning
and expectation that draw me away from my individual pursuit of flow and
living in the moment.  I'm still trying to comprehend the implications
of that for me.... how OST might help me bring my work life into better
alignment with my spiritual practice.

This feels like a half-completed thought, and a nice resting place on
the journey.  The rest will emerge when it's good and ready, I suppose.
Any help along the way would be most appreciated.

Julie

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