FW: Human Beings and Human Doings

Thu May 27 17:37:43 PDT 2004

Pushed wrong button again.

ho

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20845
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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-----Original Message-----
From: Harrison Owen [mailto:hhowen at comcast.net]
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 8:12 AM
To: 'pculhane at magma.ca'
Subject: RE: Human Beings and Human Doings

All being and no doing make Jack and Jill exceedingly dull. By the same
token all doing and no being makes them both pretty shallow. For my self, it
is not an either/or -- but definitely a both /and. The problem at the moment
for many of us, however, is that we get so involved in doing (whatever)there
is scarcely time/space to be. Also, and in as much as this is the OSLIST,
where the conversation (typically) is about facilitating Open Space, it has
seemed appropriate to me at least to speak rather more about Being in our
work, if only because it seems to get left out of many other parts of our
lives. And for the facilitator in Open Space, the quality of their being
becomes quite critical since there is so little to do. Of course, if
everybody jumped on the Being wagon, nobody would get anywhere, if only
because the trains would not work. Fortunately, there are a whole mess of
Doers out there -- who will do better I think if the catch their breath and
let it be -- just for a second.

ho

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20845
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
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Phil
Culhane
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 9:23 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Human Beings and Human Doings

A couple times now, beings and doings have come up, from a peer group I
highly respect, and I find myself on the other side of the philosophical
line. So I`ll explain how I see it, and hope for some illumination - someone
to please point out that certain flaw in my logic.

When I do an OS for a corporate entity, I will sometimes ask the
participants to consider what that entity is, for a moment. Let`s use the
Government of Canada, to get out of the abstract. I ask them what is the
government of Canada. They tell me laws, policies, lots of land, buildings,
papers and paperwork, and I say yes and if we piled together all those laws,
policies, land, buildings, paper and paperwork and stared at it, would it be
the government of Canada. If all of you left your offices and went home, or
on permanent vacation, would those et ceteras go on being the government of
Canada. No. Alright, so the government of Canada is you - you the
participants as a subset of you, all the public servants and related
community that claim membership in the government of Canada. So if you all
went to the office, and sat quietly at your desk, doing absolutely nothing,
just being, as it were, would you then be the government of Canada. Again,
no. So - it is the actions you do as the membership of the government of
Canada that is the living breathing entity we know as the government of
Canada. Not plants, buildings, etcetera. Not human beings. But human doings.

So it is about doing first. Being, yes, as usefully as you can be, but being
alone, what does it accomplish.

Mother Teresa once shared a beautiful point with Bob Geldof. She told him -
there are things you can do that I cannot, and there are things that I can
do that you cannot. We both must do them.

Again, and I don`t count myself a Catholic, I just call wisdom as I see it,
a highly regarded source seems to be saying that, above all, its about
doing.

The only thing we can control in this lifetime (that I know of) is our
actions. Are we not responsible to god, the universe, truth, or whatever we
hold most high, to do, as best we can, before all.

That's my current mindspace. I`ve been there for a couple years. I will be
extremely grateful if someone can point me to a different place, where it is
about being first, and then, only maybe, about doing.

Profound apologies if I`ve taken anything out of context.

Phil

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of BJ Peters
Sent: May 26, 2004 9:01 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Four Principles, One Law - and organisations (was half-way
technology)

Comments below in this color:
On Saturday, May 22, 2004, at 03:02 PM, Therese Fitzpatrick wrote:

> Marei wrote:
> "Writing this I realize that now, barely a year later,
> I go directly into the question: What do I really want? What do I
> really think?

> What do I really want to say? Where and with whom do I really want to
> be?"
>
Marei-- I love your questions, as they are the path to truth, IMHO.

> Form, in my present moment, seems
> irrelevant.  It is about 'being' first, then, maybe, only maybe,
> 'doing'. . .
>
Theresa-- the simplicity of your conclusion is profound, in that your
questioning journey led you from complexity to simplicity in little more
that a heartbeat. If only I could make the leap so quickly. . .Thanks for
your contribution. --BJ

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