FW: Whatever happens....

Sun Jul 27 12:48:19 PDT 2008

Very cool.

This talk of initial conditions reminds me of “all organizations (systems)
are perfectly designed to get the results they get.” 

Thanks for the inspirations.

Tenneson

Tenneson Woolf

Orem, Utah USA

tenneson at berkana.org

skype: tenneson_woolf

801 705 5145

801 376 2213 Cell

  _____  

From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of ashley
cooper
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 3:52 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Whatever happens....

Wow, wow, wow. Very exciting. Thank you so much. I look forward to
listening.

Grateful,
Ashley

On Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 12:29 PM, Chris Corrigan <chris at chriscorrigan.com>
wrote:

Ash:

Got a half hour of audio of folks giving their thoughts to your
inquiry...Larry Peterson, Peggy Holman, Viv McWaters, Brian Bainbridge, Alan
Stewart, Michael Cook, Aine Corrigan-Frost, Elwin Guild, Phelim McDermott,
Lisa Heft, Jeff Aitken, John Engle and possibly others I have forgotten for
the moment, all weighed in.  

All are welcome to listen at:

http://chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/?p=1431

It's a 22Mb mp3 file there just so you know.

Chris

On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 6:39 PM, ashley cooper <mail.easilyamazed at gmail.com>
wrote:

Thank you, Harrison, Chris and Michael, for pondering my question.

I appreciate that you've reinforced for me the purpose of grounding in the
present moment... really being centered in the invitation to go deeper into
the present moment... what IS happening, what is here before us now... to
satiate in the experience that has emerged and become enlivened by what has
unfolded. It's sacred, it's happened, it's here with us as a part of our
being now because we've experienced it. We get to experience what is
happening now. We don't have to worry about all the other what-ifs. Thank
you for reminding me and reinforcing for me the importance of constantly
inviting into that essential starting place of the present moment... and for
focusing my attention on how slippery the slope of spending energy and
attention on the alternative possibilities can be. I look forward to holding
that more attentively within my own awareness.

... and I'll keep pondering if there are words that I can say that echo that
"whatever..." intention for me with more clarity. ;)

For me, I do experience the principles as an invitation. We are invited to
be with one another in this way for this shared experience. Fortunately
there is the Law, granting everyone the freedom to make their own conscious
choices about their involvement, to accept or reject the principle's
invitations. The principles help me shape the space. I've taken the time to
set up tea and coffee because I think "you" might enjoy them. I like for the
room to feel inviting and easily engagable because I want you to feel
welcomed and feel free to engage. I also am taking the time to shape the
space a little by sharing with you these principles and interesting little
critters because I'd like for you to trust your inner knowing and be present
with the life that is emerging here.  My interest in pondering the language
is simply an effort to make my invitations as clear as possible...

Again, thanks so much for helping me reflect into this with you!

And I'd love to know of other "facts of life" sayings that exist in other
languages... including english.

Warmly,
Ashley
in sunny Seattle

On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 1:10 PM, Michael M Pannwitz <mmpanne at boscop.org>
wrote:

Dear Ashley,
to me the principles are perhaps principles and certainly not rules or as
Harrison says, prescriptions. Thus, as far as I am concerned there is no
"set of rules". Of course, the Law is different, it really is a Law and I
wish I had a surefire way of enforcing it!! So, maybe its not a Law even but
just an invitation.
But what often are called "the principles" are not really principles and
perhaps also not invitations. So what on earth are they. I have taken to
call them "facts of life". The way I ran into that "category" is by
discovering (or being told about) folk sayings for them, espcially for
"Whatever..". Having been cast into "sayings" by our ancestors suggests that
they are in fact "facts of life".
In German there are probably dozens of "sayings" for "Whatever...",
different ones for different regions and dialects. The best known by all
Germans is
"Wenn das Wörtchen Wenn nicht wär, wär mein Vater Millionär"
these sayings are often in Rhyme form.
In English it would be something like
"If it were not for the little word if, my father would be a millionär"
A more direct and juicy variety is
"Wenn der Hund nicht geschissen hätte, hätte er den Has gefangen"
In English something like
"If the dog had not stopped to take a shit he would have caught the rabbit"
(Actually, I am not sure its German because Jo Töpfer taught me that one and
he is heavily infected with Russian).
A more philosophical version, maybe one of the Germans in SF can try a
translation is
"Der Wenn und der Hät, hän no nie etwas gehäbt".

As far as learning from this or that I myself find myself learning from what
actually happened. Reflecting on what did not happen or should have happened
or could have happened invariably leads me into speculations. That does not
enrich me so I imagine its not conducive to my learning and I think I have
pretty much given up on it...but I do remember what fun we had as kids
imagining winning in the lottery and what we would do with all that money...

Greetings from Berlin
mmp

Harrison Owen wrote:

Ashley - Unfortunately I am not at OSONOS (wish I were) and I like what you
wrote. Your thoughts and musings are all to the point, but I am not sure
that rephrasing the principle will get you where you want to go. I grant you
that the words could have been more eloquent, to say nothing of grammatical,
but that is just sort of how they happened. You know - "Whatever happened. .
." But the real point, so far as I am concerned, is that this principle (as
indeed all of them) is descriptive, not prescriptive.  There is no "should"
present or implied - just an observation of present reality. At least that
is the way it seemed at the time. Where one goes from there is an open
question, and a rich one. Hopes and expectations are great, and searching
for alternative possibilities is obviously a key element of our adaptive
behavior which lies at the root of our continuing evolution as a person and
as a people. But unless all that starts from a clear point of grounding in
the present moment, it seems to me that we can quickly lose our way. It is
also true that were we to become so infatuated with what "might" take place;
we may well miss the opportune richness of the moment. So for me it is all
about a starting place, an invitation to be present. It is also an
invitation to go deeper into this present moment. For me that has always
been the jump off place for truly amazing journeys. 

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Drive

Potomac, Maryland   20854

Phone 301-365-2093

Skype hhowen

Open Space Training  <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> www.openspaceworld.com

Open Space Institute  <http://www.openspaceworld.org/>
www.openspaceworld.org

Personal website  <http://www.ho-image.com/> www.ho-image.com 

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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of ashley
cooper
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 12:29 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Whatever happens....

Hello friends around the world,

Feeling those gathered in San Francisco, swimming in the hearty open space
soup, I find a myself pondering a topic I would host if I were there... a
topic I'd love to have a conversation around. 
I'm curious about the wording of the principle, "what ever happens is the
only thing that could have". I know John Engle brought this question up in
the past http://www.openspaceworld.org/news/2007/05/11/whatever-happens/ and
I'm still curious about it.

I find that people sometimes use it as a block to reflection, a reason to
not look back and learn from what didn't happen because "whatever happens is
the only thing that could have." Yes, and... 
I love the principle for the acceptance that it invites. And I struggle with
it because there is a sense of finality that it also invites (if you want to
let yourself go there). We did what we did and that's, that. Which is
true... And...

I appreciate how in Haiti they are playing with What Happens is what happens
- learn and move forward. I like the learn and keep moving part.

Are there other ways that people phrase this principle? How do you invite
the spirit of acceptance and invitations to be with what is alive and
happening in the moment, while also inviting reflection and learning from
what has and has not emerged?

If anyone at WOSonOS is reading this and you find this conversation
springing up in your face to face time, please do share your harvest with
us. I'm contemplating posting a skype session tomorrow morning on this
topic... and I've not yet been able to commit myself to being inside at the
computer tomorrow morning!!

Alive and grateful,
Ashley

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-- 
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Facilitation - Training - Process Design
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com

Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.
http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com

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