Testing

[Harrison Owen]

At 06:44 PM 4/24/2003 +0200, Eva P Svensson wrote:
>So quiet - just have to test that I'm still connected to you all!


The silence is in fact deafening. And particularly noticeable for this 
group. When silences come I find the reasons are usually three: a) Nothing 
to say. b) Nothing need be said. c) What could, or should, be said takes 
people to a place they don't want to go. I vote for c)

The events of the past month are, indeed, a little overwhelming. The US 
invades Iraq, SARS breaks out. And now North Korea threatens to do a 
nuclear demonstration -- whatever that might mean. Sufficient to take your 
breath away. Forget about talking. And the prospects for the immediate 
future are hardly encouraging. Speaking just for myself, I can say that at 
such times, space becomes claustrophobically small. And my daily activities 
verge on the irrelevant. Silence. Very quiet.

It is quite possible that we are really in the midst of very, very, deep 
doo-doo, from which there is no easy or obvious escape. Under the 
circumstances it is always nice to have somebody to beat on and blame. 
George the Shrub comes immediately to mind. But regardless of what he did 
do that he shouldn't have -- or didn't do and should have, the situation is 
probably well beyond him. From where I sit, he remains what he has always 
been -- an embarrassment. As Birgitt might be tempted to say -- We have a 
lot of Dead Moose.

And yet in such moments, there is the possibility of enormous learning. For 
ourselves, how do we open our personal space so that in this present moment 
we can be fully here -- fully alive? And for our neighbors, colleagues, 
clients and friends, how can we open that communal space so breath (and 
meaningful conversation) becomes a possibility? Opening this sort of space 
is rather different, I think, from filling the air with trite platitudes 
and the power of positive thinking. It goes to a deeper place.

Slightly less than a year ago, I was privileged to work with a group of 
Palestinians and Israelis in Rome. Relatively speaking, the world at that 
point (compared to the present moment) seemed almost idyllic -- but for 
those coming from The Middle East it appeared something other than a rose 
garden. And in their presence, I could only share something of the brittle 
fatalism reflected in the forced smiles, and nervous laughter with which we 
began our gathering. Knowing full well that I could never be fully where 
they were, I nevertheless felt compelled to share my own vulnerability -- 
In my opening of the circle on that first day I said something like..."I 
had come because I cared for my friends in Palestine and Israel, and also 
for myself and my children. And although the people in that circle may feel 
themselves isolated and alone in their own private Hell with their own 
agonizing story, that story was also the story of our world. Like it or not 
they were in the hot crucible of the future of humankind. The future of all 
of us is being created in that strange place known as the Holy Land, even 
as it has been for millennia. So I cared, but I was also on the edge of 
despair or beyond. I could not think of any way out. The issues were so 
deep and intractable that movement appeared denied. Space was closed. But 
still I came, and still I cared – as I presumed was true for each of them 
as well."

My learning during those days in Rome was profound. It became startling 
clear that neither I, nor any single person there, had the wisdom, courage, 
strength or perseverance to get us where we needed to go. But none of us 
were called upon to do that -- we all were -- and all rose to the 
challenge. In that rich space which contained all of our hopes, fears, 
frustrations and  anxieties, we collectively found a collegiality which 
included and transcended them all.  Needless to say, we did not bring peace 
to The Middle East, but we surely experienced peace in that moment. And 
that was a moment we will never forget.

So maybe it is time to break our silence here on good old OSLIST -- share 
what we are, and what we are learning.


Harrison







Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854 USA
phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm

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