Opening Space for a Closing World

[BJ Peters]

Harrison-- Your gallery of photos is awesome! Thanks for sharing it
with the list. Photography has been a large part of my life, too, And
in a former life, I also dabbled in water color painting. The subjects
you seem to be drawn to in nature - wood, what lands and crawls on
wood, water and creatures it attracts - are what appeal to me as well.

Appreciatively --BJ

BJ Peters
"Helping to keep space open in a world seeming to close it."

On Monday, April 5, 2004, at 10:57 AM, Harrison Owen wrote:

> As reported, I have been dealing with the after effects of a cornea
> transplant which largely involved stumbling into things which I
> couldn't
> see, and putting endless amounts of drops and salve into an eye that
> had
> clearly seen better days. Minor inconvenience on the macro scale of
> world
> affairs, but it has turned out to be an interesting metaphor for whole
> mess
> of other feelings and associations that have been bumping into my
> consciousness. With my eye shut down, although constantly reminding me
> of
> its presence with annoying jabs of pain, I found my world getting
> smaller
> and smaller. Space just closed down, leaving me scant room for
> anything I
> thought to be useful or fun. Truthfully, I was looking for all the
> sympathy
> I could get, and my favorite source of supply, my wife Ethelyn, had
> just
> about run out.
>
> One thing I could do (sort of) was read my email - and as my world
> closed
> in, the vista of little notes from foreign places became sweet indeed.
> Of
> course, I loved to hear from you all - but perhaps most sweat was a
> note
> from a young Croatian student. Never heard of her before - I assume
> she is a
> she, name is Mirja - but what do I know? She wrote at length (you will
> find
> the whole note below) about how she and some colleagues wanted to
> start an
> eco-tourism project in Western Croatia, and could I help. I informed
> her
> that I knew absolutely nothing about Eco-Tourism, but I thought
> opening a
> little space might help. Who knows what will happen, and have yet to
> hear
> back from her - but I just loved how she closed her letter.
>
> "I really do hope you understand the importance your response would
> have for
> my near, as well as for my distant future. Any feedback would be
> valued and
> would benefit our effort in ensuring a better tomorrow!"
>
> Made my day. Opened my space! And I found myself thinking about other
> ways
> of opening some space. Photography has always been a favorite of mine.
> I
> shoot pretty constantly, and I just love the opportunity to see what I
> see.
> However, I have to confess that at the moment, thoughts of photography
> come
> rather bitter-sweet, since I can't rightly see. But I do have a whole
> mess
> of pictures, some of which I think are rather nice. As it happened I
> got a
> call from Ranger Rod, the local Park Service ranger who said he had
> heard
> about my pictures, and would I consider doing an exhibit at the Ranger
> Station. And if I had nothing else to do, would I come over this
> morning so
> that we might talk. Sounded good to me - certainly better than sitting
> around feeling sorry for myself and getting absolutely no sympathy.
> When I
> arrived at the Ranger Station, Ranger Rod was sweeping the floor,
> wearing a
> dust mask. His eyes were watering, and he looked pretty bad, but when I
> flopped down the book of shots, he came over, took off his mask and
> silently
> started flipping through the pages. He didn't say a word for about 5
> minutes
> - then he said "These are Beautiful, and they are all from my park.
> Since
> our budget has been cut, I have been chained to a desk and just can't
> get
> out much any more." Opened a little more space, I think.
>
> The morning newspaper comes with all sorts of stores about space
> closing.
> Israel is building a fence, the Marines have closed off Falujah, we in
> the
> US struggle with the Patriot Act, folks in Spain are wondering when
> the next
> terrorists will strike, and how to keep them out . . . It is getting
> pretty
> close. And the closer it gets the more our possibilities are limited,
> and
> the human Spirit withers. In an odd way, the more we try to preserve
> that
> Spirit, the more it seems in jeopardy. Some wise soul remarked that
> after
> studying history for a long time he had concluded that the telling
> end-stage
> of any country or civilization showed up when they spent more time
> trying to
> protect what they had than growing what they might become (my words,
> but his
> thought). Definite closure of space.
>
> So I thought to myself, thought I, how to open some more space -
> anywhere,
> anyhow, with anyone???? Doing an OS is cool, but surely that
> represents but
> a tiny fraction of the opportunities available.  So come on Folks
> (Lurkers
> included) how do we open up some more space? And how are we doing
> right now.
> Perhaps if we shared we cold give each other some really good ideas.
>
> Harrison
>
>
> PS  And if you are interested in some of my photo-spaces check out
> www.ho-image.com
>
>
> ***********************************************************************
> *****
> *************
>
> First, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Mirja Sekulovic
> and I am
> a senior student at the American College of Management and Technology,
> in
> Dubrovnik, Croatia. A long-time interest in the tourism industry
> motivated
> me to engage in a hotel/resort management Bachelors Degree, which I
> will
> obtain this May. Being so, I chose to research the possibilities of
> ecotourism development in Dubrovnik area for my senior project. I am
> highly
> motivated by this topic because after hearing and learning a lot about
> ecotourism, I came to realize this kind of development is exactly what
> Dubrovnik area needs. More specifically, I decided to focus on Konavle
> area.
> Konavle is located in the Dubrovnik County, in its southern part of
> Croatia.
> It comprises a variety of attractions: unique culture, history and
> traditional customs (traditional costumes, folklore, handcraft,
> viticulture,
> authentic foods, farming) and beautiful unspoiled nature and sea. To my
> knowledge these features are potentially applicable for ecotourism
> development. Various travel agencies have recently started offering
> various
> activities (safari tours, horse back riding, and silk manufacturing) as
> their excursions, but that is all on individual basis, and therefore
> can not
> create a complete vacation for an eco tourist. The interest from the
> side of
> the local community is present, and it can be seen by various attempts
> of
> developing individual rural tourism lodging units. I personally see
> ecotourism development as my future profession. My colleagues have also
> researched ecotourism development in Konavle for their senior
> projects, and
> therefore we are familiar with this concept.
>
> I would kindly like to ask for your advice in steps that should be
> taken in
> order to start with the ecotourism development in Konavle. I would
> like to
> know how you would organize the development in the described
> circumstances.
> What type of organization would you create to achieve the goals?
> What does a specific area need to posses (in terms of infrastructure
> and
> amenities, as well as activities) in order for you to consider it as an
> ecotourism destination?  What do you think are the major benefits of
> ecotourism development?
>
> I really do hope you understand the importance your response would
> have for
> my near, as well as for my distant future. Any feedback would be
> valued and
> would benefit our effort in ensuring a better tomorrow!
> Mirja [mirja.sekulovic at du.htnet.hr]
>
>
>
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20845
> Phone 301-365-2093
>
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
> <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>
>
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
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