Everything is Moving: An Invitation to Join the flow (longish)

Mon Aug 23 01:55:01 PDT 2010

Thank you Harrison.
I have been struggling for some time with a short story commission bringing
Œeureka¹ science moments together with fiction, the one I¹m working on being
Minkowski¹s understanding (rather than an actual eureka moment) that brought
time together with the 3 dimensions of space, making sense of Einstein¹s
Special theory of relativity, so it could become the General Theory of
Relativity. It¹s a fairly simple understanding (ie, that time is a fourth
dimension and should be added to the three dimensions of space for full
understanding), but it revolutionised science and is based on some extremely
complex understandings that I can barely begin to grasp at, and therefore I
assume might also be, at least, tricky for the average reader.
ŒEverything is Moving¹ is the kick-off point I have been waiting for. (and
knowing would come.)
In gratitude,
Stella x
http://stelladuffy.wordpress.com

On 22/8/10 10:49 pm, "Harrison Owen" <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:

> Our friend Suzanne Daigle sent me a note saying that it seemed I had been very
> quiet on OSLIST. It is true that I appreciate silence, but the real truth is,
> I was just thinking. Dangerous I know, but what follows is the result  and
> you can blame it all on Suzanne (Joke!). So what do you think?
>  
> **************************************************************
>  
> A long time ago a good friend, Ralph Copleman, was to be found in the middle
> of a large circle of peers dressed in a flowing cape and repeating the words,
> ³Everything is moving, Everything is moving.² Odd to say the least and some
> doubted Ralph¹s sanity. Some still do, but that image has stuck in my febrile
> brain ever since  and as time has passed it occurs to me that Ralph had it
> precisely right: This is an energetic cosmos. The problem arises when we (and
> that includes all of us some of the time) desperately want everything to  stop
> and stand still. So desperately in fact that we have created a mental image of
> our environment exclusively populated by static things which include
> everything from mountains to super nova along with the oddments of our life
> like professions, chairs, relationships, organizational structures,
> corporations, countries and empires. Unfortunately this mental image is a
> radical illusion, one might say delusion. Ralph is right. Everything is moving
> and what we perceive as stable structures are but the momentary, slice in
> time, freeze-frame constructs of our imagination.
>  
> Heresy? Psychobabble?  Advanced esoteric insight?  None of the above, I
> think. As a matter of fact, Ralph¹s observation is nothing but a short
> (poetic?) version of the (now) standard scientific understanding of the nature
> of the cosmos. Starting with the Big Bang it is all flowing energy, albeit now
> clumped in momentary configurations  but still flowing energy for all of
> that. Scratch any rock hard enough and its essential nature comes through  a
> whirring bunch of quarks and neutrons doing the cosmic dance. Doubtless my
> physicist friends would take issue with my phrasing  but not, I think, with
> the core message. Everything is moving.
>  
> So what does all this have to do with the price of eggs? Or for that matter 
> Open Space and our role as facilitators and consultants? A lot, I believe.
>  
> Starting with Open Space which is many things to different people. For some it
> is a Large Group Intervention. Others might see it as an aberrant phenomenon
> peculiar to a cultish few. For myself Open Space is a trial ride in the flow
> of life which has a lot of similarities to my boat.
>  
> My boat is smallish in size (32 feet) but definitely larger than the average
> punt. She is very seaworthy and shares a common heritage with the local
> Lobster Boats here in Maine. We have many visitors, most of whom have never
> been on a boat such as the Ethelyn Rose. When you walk on board, things look
> sort of familiar. Chairs for sitting, a comfortable nook for dining, and even
> an oriental rug on the floor  excuse me, sole. If you look further there are
> the standard amenities such as a shower and commode, all sequestered in their
> separate quarters. Even a complete landlubber will feel more or less at home.
>  
> But the moment we leave the dock the world changes  apparent stability yields
> to constant motion. Everything is moving even if it seems to be staying in the
> same place! In the harbor motion is minimal, but the moment  we clear the
> breakwater marking the harbor entrance the experience can be radically
> different. Sea swells from the open Atlantic Ocean take us up and down in
> distances measured in yards, and should we have a good cross wind the surface
> chop adds an interesting side to side motion. The Ethelyn Rose is right at
> home, but some of our visitors have a different impression. And navigating in
> these conditions is a definite learning experience. Even a simple walk through
> the main cabin can be a challenge. Hand holds that you had carefully plotted
> at the start of your journey suddenly changed position relative to you as you
> made your way. What was up is now down and who knows what is happening in
> between. Interesting, and as they say, It ain¹t Kansas.
>  
> Most people meet the challenge and after a few educational bumps to  various
> parts of their anatomy they learn not to fight reality. No matter what you may
> have thought you were going to do, the only useful option is to go with the
> flow. And the next level of learning is that when you do that well (flow) you
> can actually arrive where you need to be. Wonderful! Sounds a lot like Open
> Space.
>  
> We start in the static stability of a circle. This may seem strange to some,
> but there is a place for everybody and everybody finds a place. A familiar and
> enduring structure for sure. Then it happens. The circle crumbles in bits and
> pieces as people come to center, announcing their passions  only to be
> briefly restored as they return to their seats. However the restoration is but
> momentary. Shortly everybody leaves their seats to join a chaotic gaggle at
> the wall. So much for static structure, and it goes downhill from there.
>  
> Ebbing and flowing, groups form and reform all without benefit of the standard
> constraints essential for orderly organizational life‹or so we might have
> thought. Pre-arranged agenda (sometimes called Mission, Goals, Objectives) is
> nonexistent. The Schedule might be posted but never followed  things start
> when they start. Assigned participation is nowhere to be found, and yet the
> right people show up. And to make things even worse, the air is filled with
> buzzing and flutters as Bees and Butterflies do their thing. Madness! To be
> sure there may be a few people who are utterly flummoxed as the hand holds
> they may have expected (see above under ³Ethelyn Rose at Sea²) disappear . . .
> or reappear in unexpected places. Their condition is not helped, for should
> they ask what to do the answer is likely to come back as a question  What
> would they care to do?
>  
> A trifling few will lose heart and head for the shore  perceived stability.
> But the vast majority, as we have seen over the years and around the globe,
> will be totally captivated by the moment, and a smaller group will experience
> that moment as total exhilaration. They are doing what their prior life
> experience taught them could not be done  seriously and intentionally going
> with the flow. And rather than being rank hedonism, the experience proves to
> be massively productive and fulfilling. Doing well and good  and feeling
> great. A hard to beat combination.
>  
> And then we come to Monday Morning. Back to reality, as they say. But is it?
> The truth, I believe is rather different. They have experienced reality and
> come to the edge of shedding illusion/delusion. In the words of friend Ralph,
> ³Everything is moving²  and this is now a fact of life to be savored and
> enjoyed. No longer a terrifying unknown, it is to be affirmed and embraced.
> Not without a few ³white knuckle² moments to be sure  but infinitely better
> than hanging onto the (illusory) rock of stability.
>  
> So what about us  those privileged folks who have accepted the honor of
> opening space in people¹s lives? Short answer: Invite our guests over the
> edge. Please note I did not say, Push them over the edge.
>  
> Crafting this invitation is always a matter of personal style and must come
> from the heart. The invitation I have in mind never appears on a piece of
> paper (or the electronic equivalent). It arrives in our personhood  who we
> are and how we present ourselves, which is to say, from the heart. Not to be
> confused with a gushy valentine or formulaic presentation, the invitation
> manifests in our simple presence, revealing our own acceptance and joy in the
> moving flow of life. Without words we express the swimmer¹s call: Come on in,
> the water is fine! Of course you have to be in the water for that call to have
> any credibility.
>  
> It is perhaps easier to say how NOT to create this invitation. First off, it
> is not a matter of rational argument and presentation of facts. Most people
> already know the facts at some level, and I think the case could be made that
> it was ³rational argument² that has gotten us into the bind we experience.
> Given the ³fact² of a moving, changing world which can be very uncomfortable,
> it is quite ³rational² to define that world in terms of controllable static
> chunks that may be contained, or better, bent to our specifications.  This has
> led us to such wonderful things as ³Flood Control² which works until such time
> as Mother Nature and Old Man River decide to take a different course. It turns
> out that The River is not a static, definable thing but part of a vast ever
> changing system. Effective Flood Control would require close management of the
> Planet¹s atmosphere to say nothing of the cosmos beyond. Good luck!
>  
> Also under the heading of ³NOT to be included² are well intentioned efforts to
> sugar coat the pill, as it were. Which is to say that we might propose certain
> limitations that will restrict the possibility of change in Open Space. Some
> of us have called these ³givens² but so far as I can tell the only given is
> change itself. And to suggest otherwise is not so much to violate the ³Spirit
> of Open Space² but rather the essence of the cosmos itself. Ralph had it
> right: Everything is moving. In this context, Open Space Technology is a
> minimal consideration.
>  
> I am by no means suggesting that our invitation look like the back panel of
> some medication listing every possible adverce reaction, if in fact unexpected
> change is such an adverce reaction. And truth to tell I find the appearance of
> unexpected change in the midst of an Open Space to be one of its (OS¹s) most
> delightful consequences. I also think that it is important to note the OS is
> not the engine of change. It simply provides the space for change to show up
> and the cosmos (or whatever) takes care of all the heavy lifting.
>  
> For me an invitation to Open Space is an opportunity to include friends and
> strangers in the deepest experience of (my) life. It has little to do with
> selling a product, doing a process, excersizing some sort of professional
> competence  although there are doubtless elements of all of that.
> Fundamentally it is my invitation to experience life at its fullest in which
> chanagability is not the enemy to be suppressed but rather the rich tapestry
> of an evolving future. I don¹t make it, I can¹t predict it  but I can
> participate both as a sojourner and a co-creator. Stuart Kauffman speaks of
> being ³At Home in the Universe.² That is my elemental experience, and I am
> always looking for playmates.
>  
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Dr.
> Potomac, MD 20854
> USA
> Phone 301-365-2093
> www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com>
> www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com> (Personal Website)
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