mother list

[chris weaver]

Tova wrote,

I believe our energy as a community was and is so powerful that a lot of
seeds had enough wind and spirit to go very far and enough warmth and
nourishment to sprout in many places. I believe that now we are on a
crossroad of our story, the question is what is the new being of 'mother
list' we wish for, where do we take our story ?

What do you think?

Dear Tova,

You have stated this beautifully:  wind, spirit, warmth, nourishment, and
sprouting seeds, yes.  I count myself as one whose daily work and life would
be entirely different without the gifts and professional connections born
out of this list over recent years (when I see the sprouting seeds, they're
on the muddy back of a turtle!)

I don't have a feeling that we are at a "crossroads," however, because to me
the list is a river rather than a road.  A river has its own life, and a
powerful river is beyond any human efforts at engineering.  Yet a river is
supremely receptive.  As Sheila Chandra sings, "the Ocean refuses no river
-"  and the river does not refuse its tributaries...the tributaries are
received...and then the opposite pattern unfurls, as the river divides into
a delta, with separate, more-focused streams spinning out their own
fractals...?

So I think the multi-focused aspect of the list seems likely to be its way
and its nature.

I am curious about what you describe as "energy leakage," and I think maybe
I understand.  To continue with the metaphor, the OSLIST, big and
wide-focused as it is, is usually not the right river to spin my own little
waterwheel.  As my own daily work has focused on the care and feeding of a
small "Open Space Organization," I have devoted my attention mostly to my
local work relationships in real time and real space, where we are all
focused and busy weaving waterbearing baskets...

The OSLIST is more like a sort of cyber-Ganges, where I go every few days
before dawn and jump in.  I continue to be amazed that something so Big can
be so responsive.  And I continue to be surprised at how often I emerge
dripping and watch the sun come up as a transformed person.

My thanks to Reinhard & Ashley for the spark (takes a little flint & steel
if you want to cook a moose), and for all the fine responses.  I spent two
hours on this extended thread this morning, thanks to the river, which rose
into the sky last night, and froze, and blanketed these mountains with
enough snow to close all the schools & block my road to Cherokee.

Chris Weaver
Swannanoa, North Carolina, USA


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