Fr Brian Bainbridge

Chris Corrigan chris.corrigan at gmail.com
Tue Feb 2 13:27:28 PST 2010


Ah.

What a blessing it was to know and be loved by Brian...a man absolutely
generous in his equanimity, achingly funny and self-deprecating and
absolutely committed to the integrity and effectiveness of Open Space.  I
have several audio recordings of conversations I spent with him over the
years.  If I can find them and clean them up, perhaps I'll get them uploaded
somewhere.

As far as I know one of Brian's enduring legacies to the Open Space
community was the coinage of the unofficial fifth principle: Be Prepared to
Be Surprised.  Perhaps others can concur, but I always associated him
strongly with that principle.  And in his death he surprised us all!  All I
can think of is his mischievous smile and quiet bubbling chuckle.

The other phrase that entered my vocabulary from Brian was "It's all good."
 And indeed I notice that today his death has given me a chance to revisit
my feelings of tenderness and admiration and love for him, to connect with
people in the OS world I haven't head from for a while and generally spend
some time in my virtual home.

My favourite Brian story, a story he told me:  Once when working with a
group of Australian IBM managers he listened patiently while they told him
of their struggles working so far away from headquarters in an extremely
hierarchical structure with an almost dogmatic approach to things.  Brian
listened sympathetically for a while and then made the incisive observation:
"You call yourselves Big Blue.  Well, Catholic priests have suffered this
same management challenge for 1500 years and ore.  Call us Big Black."

My family is finally travelling to Melbourne in May to do some work with Viv
McWaters and Anne Patillo and Geoff Brown and Johnnie Moore and we were
really looking forward to seeing Brian in his own place. Alas, we won't have
that chance now, but you can bet when we open space together Brian will be
invoked and I will relish the chance to raise a glass and tell some stories
about our patron Father, our mentor, teacher and friend.

Chris

On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 1:33 PM, Marks McAvity <mcavity at primus.ca> wrote:

> It has been special hearing the tributes from around the world for Brian.
> He
> once spent 1 week on retreat at this place (Rivendell) where many come to
> share in Open Space. On this occasion he was on his own- on retreat-
> opening
> space for himself. As he worked tirelessly for others he appeared to know
> that one has to also care for oneself. It was a delight to host him here.
>
> As a community you (we) are close. May we grieve Brian's absence from us
> gracefully and gratefully.
>
> Marks
>
>
> Marks & Margaret McAvity
> S50, C16
> Galiano, BC  V0N 1P0
> mcavity at primus.ca ; (for Marks or both)
> margaretmcavity at primus.ca (for Margaret)
> 604-947-0077(Bowen); 250-539-2881 (Galiano)
> 604-328-4406 (Marks); 604-616-7260 (Margaret)
>  www.rivendellretreat.org
> "Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we
> shall harness the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the
> history of the world, man will have discovered fire." ~~ Pierre Teilhard de
> Chardin
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Viv
> McWaters
> Sent: February 1, 2010 10:23 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Fr Brian Bainbridge
>
> Hello everyone
>
> > Father Brian Bainbridge passed away in his sleep, early morning on
> Tuesday, February 2, 2010.  It was a sad surprise to us all - in fact, he
> just sent out an Open Space OZ newsletter the evening before.
>
> I am in such shock right now and very, very sad. Brian has been a dear
> friend, and mentor for many years and we have been working and playing
> together since the early 1990s. Most recently we offered Open Space
> Training
> here in Melbourne, usually once or twice a year. In fact, we were trying to
> get dates sorted for this coming March. Brian would often come and have
> dinner with us here at Bells Beach. We'd share food, wine and stories. We
> travelled together to WOSonOS events in Vancouver, Goa and San Francisco,
> and hosted WOsonOS in the now destroyed town of Marysville. Brian went to
> as
> many OSonOs events as he could and always kept me up-to-date with all of
> the
> OS community shenanigans. I have so many great memories of Brian I don't
> even know where to start. I will keep you informed of details regarding the
> funeral.
>
> Best
>
> Viv
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Viv McWaters
> Beyond the Edge Pty Ltd
> PO Box 665 Torquay 3228
> Australia
> 0417 135 406
>
> Facilitator Training: www.facilitatingwithconfidence.com
> My Blog: www.vivmcwaters.com.au
> My Podcasts: www.winkipod.com.au
> Skype: vivmcwaters
> Twitter: vivmcw
>
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-- 
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Facilitation - Training - Process Design
Open Space Technology

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

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