How do you live in open space?

Therese Fitzpatrick therese.fitzpatrick at gmail.com
Tue Jan 18 13:45:02 PST 2005


I have said this before on this list and I sometimes say it when I
open an OS circle. . . . BUT I think open space is as good a take on
how things/life/reality work as any explanation I have come across.
Practicing open space, or, at least, my aspiration to practice open
space in each moment of my life is as close to a spiritual practice as
I am going to get.

If all people followed what had heart and meaning for them in each
moment of their lives, I think all the problems in the world would
begin to resolve themselves. There would be some chaos in response to
such a shift because so many of the institutions we have now to
support human life have been created without the principles of open
space. But if every single person  were living the principles,
everything would all resolve itself.

It can be tricky knowing with a nice, mellow clarity what has heart
and meaning in a particular moment.  The world has been operating in a
manner in contradiction with the principles of open space for a long
time.  It might have heart and meaning for me to spend my morning
writing emails but there might be people in the world expecting me to
show up at work.  I can hear objections to my belief that all of
humanity could live their lives according to the principles of open
space.  Who will run the trains?  Who will grow the food?  Will there
be enough?

Some people on this list probably know that the first corporations
were initially given a license to exist on a short term basis to serve
the crown first and the shareholders second. The crown represented
royalty but royalty represents the common good as well as the best
interests of the king and queen.  The first corporations were granted
licenses for specific periods of time.  When it started, it started.
When the time was up, it was over and the corporation ceased to exist.
 A perceived need arose, a fictional 'being', the corporation, was
created to serve that need and when the goals were accomplished, it
was over.  If the principles of open space has been applied,
corporations would never have morphed into the infinite behemoths they
have become.  I use this example because it popped into my head as I
sat here writing.  It is hard for me to revision what economic life
might look like today if corporations still started when they arose to
meet a need in a given moment and if they disbanded/stopped when the
need of the now moment had dissipated.

It is not just for profit corporations that have taken on an unnatural
life and seem to exist in perpetuity.  I can think of countless
examples of nonprofits that arose to meet a specific need and then
they go on and on, artificially sustained to meet the needs of current
participants long after the initial impulse has been sated.

Please don't be distracted if my example of corporations distracts
you.  My point is that if people apply the principles of open space to
all human endeavors, they would evolve quite differently than they
have until now.

I think the principles of open space invite us to ground our choices
in the now moment, meeting the perceived needs of the 'now' moment
while at the same time inviting us to trust that the perceived needs
of the next moment will be met as well.  Everything manmade would look
completely different if all people lived like that.

I'm not sure if my thoughts about living in open space apply to
rolling out a new manufacturing process using open space or writing a
strategic plan but here in my now moment I have been answering the
question 'how do I live in open space'.

Warmly, Therese Fitzpatrick

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