Thoughts on a Town Crier

[Elena Marchuk]

Dear Peggy,
I wish I could NOT ring the bells and let participants to work as they care, but most OSs I provide are very limited in time, and several time I missed the time by chance (though not much...) I could see, that people are just seeting and talking in a previous groups. If I had the time to give them a 'teach' that it is their way of doing things and will have time to 'spread' time for another quant of session, I would probably do, but I'm affraid, may be it is ok to be, and just do, but I'm afraid, that we would have just no time for the next session, so I usualy ring, though say in opening, that it is up to them, how they will work, I would just be a Town Crier, as you say...

thank you for the question
warm hugs from -25 C Siberia with a lot of snow, though sun shining :)

elena marchuk
novosibirsk
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Peggy Holman 
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU 
  Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2008 11:22 PM
  Subject: Thoughts on a Town Crier


  Has anyone noticed more milling about before people move into sessions over the last few years?  I'd been noticing enough of a trend this way that I always intend to explicitly tell people that there won't be anyone telling them when to move, that it is up to them to follow their own rhythms and interests.  I haven't quite internalized this yet, so I usually forget.  Anyway, I think I may have figured out what is going on.

  I just did an OS for a friend for a group of about 50.  He uses OS a lot but wanted to be able to really participate in this one.   He told me that he was a little surprised when the first round of breakout sessions was starting that I didn't tell people it was time to get started.  He came to me when the first round after lunch were scheduled to start and asked me wasn't I going to ring a bell and let people know?  I basically told him that I never did that.  The participants were adults and could figure it out for themselves.  He was floored and a little upset.  He said he always lets people know.  And then it dawned on me:  there are more and more people who have experienced OS.  Perhaps there are many practitioners doing what Jon does - telling people when it is time to start the next session.  I realized that since most of these folks came at Jon's invitation, they were probably enculturated to responding to a bell.  

  So I took what seemed a middle ground to me and rang a bell, saying, "It's 1:30 and all's well."  I figured a town crier was a minimalist thing to do -- providing information without attachment to how people used it.

  I then spoke more with Jon because I wanted to understand his perspective.  He said that to him, what is posted, like the session start times, are part of the commons and when he is holding the space, that is part of his contract with the group, to give them the information.  He doesn't care what they do once they hear it.  So, it strikes me that Town Crier is a good description of what he does.

  Given the trend I mentioned, I suspect Jon isn't the only one doing something like this.  I'd love to hear other thoughts on providing information that marks the passage of time.

  from sunny (for a change) Seattle,
  Peggy

  ________________________________
  Peggy Holman
  The Open Circle Company
  15347 SE 49th Place
  Bellevue, WA  98006
  (425) 746-6274 

  www.opencirclecompany.com


  For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to: 
  www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook 

  "An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become 
  the fire".
    -- Drew Dellinger
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