Open Space & Anti-Americanism

Harrison Owen hhowen at comcast.net
Tue Feb 8 06:19:06 PST 2005


Shay wrote: "So it is possible that during the 14MYears of open space, parts
of the space have closed around certain individuals or groups. Nazi Germany
in the 30's and 40's is an example. Organised religions have many times
sought to close the space around a particular point of view. As have
politicians and Monarchs."

I think you may have it precisely right! Space in particular situations is
always opening and closing. That is true for discussion groups, an Open
Space Event, your life, and The Roman Empire. Rather like breathing out and
breathing in -- you can't do one without doing the other. And if you stop
altogether, you die. Call it the flow of life -- and in that flow, all
things have an ending, which is almost inevitably sad for somebody, but with
that ending comes the opening the space for new possibilities. Things may
seem to be different when we raise the ante to include wars and tsunamis,
but I don't think so. I think we find ourselves with a wonderful paradox:
Sooner or later everything stops, and were that not the case; it would be
very hard to go on. Shortly put, ending and beginning is fundamental to the
process in which we find our selves. At a micro/practical level -- every
time we open space for some organization or group some things will end and
others begin. Which is why I find it to be terribly important to remember
the Griefwork Process. We all go through it regardless, and we can help each
other. I guess that is part of the job description of the OS facilitator --
being with folks at the time of ending. And of course, that also provides
the marvelous opportunity for being present at the moment of renewal.
Strange work!

Harrison

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: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Seamus
McInerney
Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2005 7:34 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Open Space & Anti-Americanism

So if space has been open for all of history...

During an OS event space is opened. Sessions are convened and discussion
starts. It is more then likely that the "subspace" that has been created
within the open space and which we call a session, closes from time to
time, around some particular point of conflict. The topic of the session
may itself be an attempt by an individual or group of individuals to close
the space around a particular point of view. A participant may attempt to
reopen the space, fail and applying the law of two feet, head off back into
open space.

So it is possible that during the 14MYears of open space, parts of the
space have closed around certain individuals or groups. Nazi Germany in the
30's and 40's is an example. Organised religions have many times sought to
close the space around a particular point of view. As have politicians and
Monarchs.

So every so often we need facilitators to awake from their well deserved
naps and remind us of what open space is really like. It is comforting to
know that the cosmic space is always open to the possibility of
self-organisation and that all closed space is ultimately, local space.

Shay


At 17:04 06/02/2005, you wrote:
>I am not quite sure how what I find myself thinking/writing here fits into
>the discussion of "Open Space & Anti-Americanism" -- but there is a
>connection, I am sure. Maybe I will find it? :-)
>
>Several days ago I began a conversation with an engineer from Johns
>Hopkins's University who is in some way responsible for a medical
technology
>development center. They have a number of issues, but at the core is a
>mission to develop robotic technology for the treatment of disease. Pretty
>far out, and multi-disciplinary with a vengeance! Anyhow, they thought a
>little Open Space might be helpful. Far be it from me to disagree. Then
this
>engineer went on to say that he had been checking out various websites
>(which ones I don't know) and said that he felt a little uneasy because
some
>of it sounded pretty weird and spiritual -- almost cult like. I told him
>that I could certainly understand, but that he needed to realize that when
>folks found themselves in Open Space (even engineers)doing what they really
>loved to do, at a level of performance they would not have dreamed of, and
>having fun besides -- they tended to become somewhat enthusiastic, maybe
>even overly enthusiastic. And genuine enthusiasm in the world we live in
may
>seem a little strange. He said he got it -- and I think he did -- so I
>didn't have to go on and point out that "enthusiasm" literally means being
>"in God." (Greek: "en" - in "theos" - God). It was probably a very good
>thing that I didn't have to proceed with my discourse which might well have
>confirmed his original suspicions.
>
>Where am I going will all this? Certainly my point is NOT to suggest any
>restraint and censorship (even self-imposed) here on OSLIST. We are what we
>are, and I just love it. But it is probably useful to consider every so
>often just how other folks might hear our conversations. What we take to be
>normative experience they might perceive as totally off the wall. I see no
>possibility of being anything less than enthusiastic about the power and
>possibilities of the human spirit as that shows up every day and in just
>about every Open Space. If that is outrageous, so be it. If I am
outrageous,
>well I guess that is just the way I am. Still and all, a little reflection
>on the impact of my (our words) can be useful.
>
>Oh yes -- now I am beginning to see the flow, and how my thoughts may have
>wandered (played off?) from "Open Space & Anti-Americanism." As we do our
>work in all the places and conditions that work takes us (all over the
>world, for goodness sake!) it is understandable and probably inevitable
that
>we begin to associate Open Space with other realities and concerns in our
>lives. If we find ourselves opposed, for whatever reason (and maybe very
>good reasons) to such things as globalization, the right wing, the left
>wing, liberals, conservatives, fundamentalists, atheists, warriors,
>politicians, capitalists, bleeding hearts, new age crowd, animists or
>environmentalists -- just to name a few, it is tempting to see such folks
as
>somehow outside of, or even opposed to, the principles of Open Space. In
>some sense, of course, they may well be -- and in a deeper sense, nothing
>could be further from the truth, I think.
>
>After all, Open Space is not all that special or particular. If we are at
>all correct in our understanding of the operative power, Open Space works
>because self-organization works. And self-organization has been going on
>ever since-- just about 14 billion years, or so they say. In the great
>fabric of the cosmos, as it has self-organized itself from nothing to
>whatever it is now, nothing is excluded (by definition). Everything, and
>everybody has had a part to play, and all have contributed to this
>incredible journey. In the moment, we may prefer Gandhi to Adolph Hitler (I
>certainly would) or Martin Luther King to George Bush ("w"). But from the
>vantage point of 14 billion years of cosmic history all of these people are
>just blips along the way. Sorry George, but no matter what you may think of
>yourself and your role in history, you are just a blip. And of course, this
>14 billion year history may be just a blip as well -- who knows. But I for
>one am just enthralled with the majesty and beauty of the story. Quite a
>show! And it was/is all done by blips!
>
>So where does that leave us? I guess what I am thinking is that when we
>presume to Open Space (facilitate an Open Space) it is probably worth while
>to remember that the space, in fact, has been open for some time -- all
>without our help and assistance. It is our privilege to remember that fact,
>and perhaps to help our fellow humanoids to remember it as well, if not at
>the level of conscious understanding, then at least at the level of
>experience. And experience, after all is the best teacher.
>
>Our act of remembrance has some possibly strange characteristics. For me it
>is all about showing up, being fully present, telling the truth, and
letting
>it all go. Or worse -- being totally present and absolutely invisible. Does
>that mean, then, that there is no place for overt action on our part? If
so,
>major portions of my life as a social activist, and there have been more
>than a few, all stand in stark contrast, not to say contradiction, to what
I
>have been talking about here. Possible for sure, but I don't feel that way.
>However, I do feel the necessity to recognize that when I join a picket
>line, actively advance a particular political agenda, and the like -- I am
>actually filling up space. Or said another way, I am intentionally becoming
>an agent in the ongoing process of self organization. Frankly, I would do
no
>different, but I must recognize that I too am just a blip, if that.
>
>If I were to put all this together, it would come out something like the
>following. Holding space and being an activist are two ends of a spectrum,
>and attempting to do both at the same time usually gets you in trouble, if
>not in schizophrenia. But the ends of the spectrum are always connected,
and
>at any given time we (certainly I) find ourselves somewhere along the way.
>If my intent is to Open Space, I must let go as much as possible all
>thoughts of action, and a 14,000,000,000 year perspective can be very
>helpful. And when I choose to act, I must do so with every ounce of passion
>and talent at my disposal, even though I take up a lot of space. And the 14
>billion year perspective is still helpful. I am still a blip, and a very
>small one at that.
>
>Wow! If my new engineer friend were to read all this stuff, who knows what
>he might come to think about Open Space? But you can't be perfect.
>
>Harrison
>
>
>
>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
>To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit:
>http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of David
>William McKay
>Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2005 7:56 AM
>To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>Subject: Open Space & Anti-Americanism
>
>Sorry I'm on digest so can't refer to a specific posting.
>
>Someone linked to an article and said something like:  Anti-americanism
>is dead. Or some such. I agree there's nothing to be gained from
>anti-americanism. Speaking from the pacifist side of the open-space I'm
>glad we finally are seeing nudges towards democracy in Iraq. But I also
>find it hard to see how anyone in favour of collaborative organizational
>change -- which is what I take open-space to be -- could feel all that
>comfy with a war justified by lies and false intelligence.
>
>War is always about changing the government of another nation-state by
>killing its citizens. That's about as far from collaborative change as
>you can get. It may at times be necessary. But when it is -- surely the
>ideal in a democratic state is to have a meaningful conversation about
>what counts as necessary so the management team (aka the Executive
>Branch) can have a mandate based upon informed consent.
>
>If I was an American -- I'm a Canuck -- I would be worried about the
>situation. Perhaps I have it bass-ackwards. But in wartime survival
>dictates "my country right or wrong" but in peacetime democracy dictates
>that the citizenry place democracy itself as the priority.
>
>David McKay
>
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Crossroads Facilitation
50 Carrigdhoun, Waterpark, Carrigaline, Co. Cork
www.crossroadsfacilitation.ie
"Building bridges and getting you over them"

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