Terrorized by terror -- Space closes

[Michael Maranda]

Considering the question of America the Fearful and Frightened,

I dont think this is something that began 5.5 years ago.

I enjoy the analogy of the dojo/dojang and the idea of going beyond the
question of safety with respect to the spaces we open.

I spend a fair amount of time thinking about the opening and holding of
space in the context of online and offline communities, in situations where
we may not all be in the same room for periods of time outside the day to
day routine.

Opening and Holding, and Holding Together.

So much of the Public Sphere seems whittled away, eroded in the US... and in
that context, I believe that is what we are reconstituting, and helping
others to take ownership of... (ownership as joint ownership).

So many possibilities are not considerd, it is no wonder fear has displaced
hope in so many domains of our lives.

One principle that I think resonates with open space is a notion of
abundance.  We can contrast a "scarcity" mindset with a perspective of
abundance.  Starting from these different points as we present our model of
the world to each other or to ourselves we can see how we lead ourselves and
others down the garden path (away from the garden).

This abundance is a question of recognizing that there are tremendous
resources, assets and talents already present... and that it is not lack but
lack of connection that is significant.  And with lack of connection we see
opportunity.  This metaphor becomes clear in the context of an open space
circle and the myriad connections and possibilities in any group assembled
(not to mention all the groups not yet assembled).

I dont know how often (if at all) the short film "The Upward Spiral" has
been mentioned in this thread, but that presents similar questions for me...
as we think of networks of potential and the range of possible flows between
us.  (Sorry I dont have the link at hand, I know Ted Ernst has blogged about
it).

In contrasting abundance v. scarcity, and turning our attention to the
possibility and character of particular flows we see that this applies to
any number of areas of life and the ecology, and the economy.

We need a new language to get out of the attitude and situation in which we
find ourselves, and I see Open Space as one mode of generating new languages
across perspectives and across categories that may have narrowed us too much
from the plenum of our humanity.

We walk away from an open space gathering and the challenge is that that's a
new beginning.  We can't easily say how the meeting interfaces with our
lives or with our systems of governance.  I can only speak for myself
(wouldnt it be nice to have the illusion of speaking for a generation?) in
that I try to live my life in open space as much as possible, in recognition
that the space was already there.

A lot of the time open space in opening possibilities also opens up
uncertainties.  Being comfortable with multiple frames or with unresolved
questions is an achievement of the human animal, and for each human it takes
work to get to that state, and more so for each group.

With our attention to the concept of holding space, we know that it is
dynamic, and that achievements in our development and evolution are not
guaranteed to continue nor to continue in positive directions... they can
slide down, we can fall into opposition ... unless we have intention and
commitment to being together in sme meaningful way.

I push myself with the notion, in other contexts, of "staying at the table"
and showing others commitment to a higher value by staying at the table.
Most people get this after a time.

At this human table there are some other parties we need to consider .... we
can think to the environment and the ecology, but we can also think of the
institutions and organizations humans have created.  There are legal
fictions of personhood here, and we can spea of corporate responsibility, or
we can speak of the fact that it is human beings that make up these
fictional persons but I dont want to lose sight of the reality of these
entities qua entity ... they have a reality and force to them, and they act
with a logic that many dismiss as an abstract and inevitable market logic.
I think that working through these questions will go a long way towards
exploring the potential in the abundance of flows already around us, and
with that a better way to move past our fears, or at least come to more
healthy terms with them.

-- Michael Maranda

---------------------------------------------------------------
Executive Director, CTCNet Chicago Chapter
Co-Founder, Chicago Digital Access Alliance
Co-Chair, Illinois Community Technology Coalition
President, Association For Community Networking

Support the efforts of the Chicago Digital Access Alliance:
http://www.digitalaccessalliance.org

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