Already-thereness, Empowerment and Such (this is a really long reply...omigod it's a thesis)

[Chris Corrigan]

I can't resist throwing out this bone:

http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i23/23b00701.htm

It's an article about the power of networks, or what happens AFTER
people self-organize.

Grist for the mill.

Chris

---
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

Bowen Island, BC, Canada
http://www.chriscorrigan.com
chris at chriscorrigan.com
-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
Harrison Owen
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 1:37 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Already-thereness, Empowerment and Such (this is a really
long reply...omigod it's a thesis)

At 10:26 AM 2/17/2003 -0800, Chris wrote:



This idea of grief work as a fundamental tool is interesting too.  I see
what you are saying Harrison, but something feels to me like that s only
part of the answer.

When I work with the grief cycle, the thing that people respond to is
the map.  They can find themselves on the map and it validates what they
are feeling.  And of course because it is a map, it also points out some
places they might go, and this is powerful for people, especially people
who are in the midst of the anger or denial stage or that deeply
unresourceful and collapsed point where all they want to do is sob.
Knowing that it gets better can help honour that moment and open space
for the pain of the now to be fully experienced.  When someone leaves
that stage it is with the knowledge that they had been fully present
there and so there is no residual pain to carry forward as suffering.

The Griefwork process is definitely a map, and certainly can be used in
the manner you suggest. But I have a strong feeling that in this case
the map is pretty close to the territory. Not the same for sure, but
close enough for Government work, as we used to say when I was in
government employ. From where I sit (both theoretically and quite
personally when the grief is mine), the process described is, in and of
itself, critical to the phenomenon of transformation as it works itself
out through self-organization.
        Speaking very broadly, the process of self-organization follows
a path which might be described a) Steady State (life as we know it.) b)
Flapping Butterfly (some nuts and bolts fall off and the system heads
towards dis-equilibrium) c) Periodic doubling (The system tried
everything it can think of to get back on course) d) Chaos (The Sh...
Hits the fan, and the system falls apart.) e) One of two eventualities
occur -- the system dies (disappears) OR The system reconstitutes at a
new and higher order of complexity, and life goes on in some new and
interesting ways.

The critical point to notice is that one way or another, the old system
dies. This system could be you, your family (relationships), your
business, city, or country -- or I guess the planet itself. When death
happens, grief starts -- not when we push a button or choose it -- it
just starts. Totally automatic. Shock/Anger, Denial, Memories, Despair,
Silence (Open Space), and if we are so inclined, something new which I
call Vision. This is my version, based on Kuebler-Ross and a number of
other folks. Other people have some different names, but I think we all
come out at about the same place. Anyhow, I see the Griefwork Process as
the critical mechanism through which we as human beings negotiate the
(often) painful process of Transformation and/self-organization. Thus
for us (Homo sapiens) Griefwork enables self-organization, and without
it we would be dead in the water -- literally. And like the process of
self-organization it seems to happen all by itself, and has done so for
the million years, or whatever, that we have been around.

Harrison



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

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