Whatever happens....

[Christy Lee-Engel]

Ashley dear, and OS friends everywhere,

Feeling you here in SF in heart & spirit!

As I look at the proceedings from day one on the wall this morning, I want
to send this as another ripple for this thought stream, from a session
convened by Michelle Howard of Australia on "Rattling the Cage: Power and
Participation in Open Space":

"...Many of us felt uncomfortable with the implications of 'Whatever happens
is the only thing that could have.' Is this an abdication of our
responsibility as facilitators for the qualities we support in an open space
process? What are the qualities for being ready? What does readiness for
open space look like?

"Open space takes time and has its own rhythm - self-organization takes
time, for trust to develop, for the unspoken to manifest. *Open space is
evolutionary* - over longer periods of time the dynamics in a group often
get challenged. It is powerful then the dynamics become the content -
powerful changes can emerge.

"...The principles and the law of open space seem to primarily relate to
'content' and can allow us to stay on the surface if we let them. '*When
people are not seen, heard and loved - mischief occurs!'* We need to find
non-threatening ways to engage the disengaged - do not underestimate the
power of the invitation..."

Heidi Nobantu Saul of the Fabulous WOSonOS host team is ringing the bells
now to open the morning circle.

love, Christy

ps John and Merline Engle are here with their beautiful children and I am
hoping some of my photos will turn out well & I can share them with you.
--
Christy Lee-Engel, ND, LAc
206.399.0868
http://lifecultivatinglife.blogspot.com


On Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 7:14 PM, John Engle <john at johnengle.net> wrote:

> "WHATEVER HAPPENS IS WHAT DID" is the poster i use in english and orally, i
> add, "Learn and move forward."
> this is what i landed on based on, i think, Doug Germann's weighing in when
> i was feeling the need to change it.
>
> so far it seems to have worked nicely. it's short, catchy, and avoids
> pushing the fatalistic button that some have in the circles that i work.
>
> john
>
>
> On Jul 24, 2008, at 12:28 PM, ashley cooper wrote:
>
> 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
> * * ==========================================================
> <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
>
>

*
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