Whatever happens....

Sat Jul 26 12:29:57 PDT 2008

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
>>>
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>>> www.openspaceworld.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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