[OSList] The 5th Principle / Sardinia leading to "Gateways to Sustainable OS"

Wed May 25 07:19:37 PDT 2011

Bernd - How could you possibly apologize for the delightful posting to this
LIST? For me useful conversations always go in a circle with lots of mud and
gold along the way. And I feel this conversation is profoundly useful. Thank
You!

And your question is provoking in a very good sense. I started to answer and
realized that any answer was inadequate - the gateways were so numerous as
to be uncountable. Even worse what might seem like a gateway became a blind
alley in retrospect. And blind alleys suddenly opened in unexpected ways.
The story of my life! But maybe it is possible to answer on a more generic
level? Two words stand out for me: Attractive and Anomaly. And then there is
what I might call the "Tap Door."

Most of the gateways of my experience first appear as Attractive. That
attraction is usually rather subtle, rather like the smell of baking bread.
There is a growing awareness of something nice - but what that might be I am
never quite sure. And so there is the gentle urge to investigate. None of
this is to be confused with what some might call "mission and purpose."
Truthfully I have only a limited sense of what got my attention and no idea
of where it might lead. Curiosity would be a good word here. Sort of like a
kitten exploring a shopping bag, or something. The bag image, however, is
misleading because I never have a strong sense of inside and outside - I get
gently sucked in J

I become aware of "being inside" only after the fact and usually with a
feeling of anomaly. Things don't quite make sense, and my expectations are
out of line with my experience. In the really fun situations I feel like
Alice in Wonderland, knowing that "This isn't Kansas." There is also a sense
of discomfiture and disorientation which has a bitter sweet quality. What I
have taken to be given and assured is somehow compromised. In worse case
scenarios "up" becomes "down" - but it is surely exciting. Space is open.

The we come to the "trap door" experience. On a perfectly calm, fine day
while walking along minding my business - suddenly I fall through a hole.
Nothing subtle or gentle - but space opens with a rush that literally takes
your breath away. In the moment there may be a bit of panic (a lot of
panic?) - but in retrospect such times have become the watersheds of my
life. I can't say I would like to repeat them, but I have no regrets.

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

Phone 301-365-2093

www.openspaceworld.com

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Bernd Weber
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 12:01 AM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] The 5th Principle / Sardinia leading to "Gateways to
Sustainable OS"

 Lisa Heft wrote : One less thing, and one more remembrance that telling a
fact does is not the thing that makes a person feel it. Being in an
experience does.

Then HO wrote: 

The 5th Principle could help us to avoid missing all the truly great Open
Space of the world simply because they don't have a "proper" venue as we
might understand "venue." So if you were to ask was Tahrir Square an Open
Space I suspect the immediate answer from a lot of people would be No. After
all the venue was not pre-determined, people did not sit in a circle, and
for sure you could not find the facilitator. Case Closed.

The differentiation between OSTech and OS Spirit (often used explicitly a
while ago, but apparently melting together for the last couple of 100s of
postings) seems to be useful if I connect these thoughts:

>From the OS Spirit "point of view" used by Lisa here:
Open Space is where you feel/perceive/experience it (so: if you are able &
open yourself:  it is everywhere)

>From the OST "point of view" used by HO in your playful way to point out the
contradiction:       Venue, pre-determined, circles, facilitator,...

So the way I see it now is: all such efforts that are usually limited to
short periods of time, which I had the luck to experience in my life like
...

OST, 

freedom-movements, 

reaching a level of dialogue without domination (see: Habermas) e.g. in
advanced group-dynamics' trainings 

sucessfully analyse resistence structures (see: Freud),

free schools

meditation 

?

?

? 

... they all can become gateways on the voyage towards something that may
not be limited to a short period of time: sustainable  OPEN SPACE

And maybe I did not make it clear in my first posting: although I do not
need the 5th principle for explicitly facilitate OST, HOs 5th-principle idea
reconnected me mentally to the many places/spaces I had "accidently"  and
luckily  gone to during my life exactly when the context/conditions/karma?
for opening was in place. And it was so evident, that I could not believe
that I had not seen it before. I only had to accept that the experience
spaces in my head that I had labeled as "temporary bubbles of freedom"
melted together with "Open Space" this morning.  

So thank you for this multi-logue on a (non-?) fifth principle of OS(T)

And here comes an invitation. I would be very interested to get also your
ideas and creativity for completing the "list of OS gates" that I opened
above.

MY QUESTION IS: 

"WHAT OTHER GATEWAYS ON THE VOYAGE TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE OPEN SPACE HAVE YOU
EXPERIENCED OR KNOW OF?"

Bernd

P.S. Decision taken meanwhile: I WILL facilitate an open space as second
part of the workshop "Playing with the Waves (of Change)" in two weeks near
Ephesos in Turkey (see below).

P.S. 2 Sorry for the last 2 long postings, but when new ideas are whooshing
around in my head I am not able to express myself in a few clear words, its
always mud and gold together

Bernd Weber

Change Facilitation s.r.o., A Global Partner Who Makes Change Happen in
Complex Environments; www.change-facilitation.com,
www.change-management-toolbook.com bernd.weber at change-facilitation.org;
(iPhone Austria: +43 664 135 4828, landline + 431 5968657); Sri Lanka
landline +94 11 2785859, iPhone Sri Lanka: +94 777740757,

NEW: Intensive Learning Workshop 

"Playing with the Waves of Change" 

www.change-facilitation.com/

You want to have the design  for a "Playing with the Waves (of Change) WS 2
completely taylor-made according to your individual learning interests &
needs & limitations? Then go to the questionnaire at

www.surveymonkey.com/s/5ZDS6JQ

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please do not use the reply button but answer to <weberb at gmx.at>, because my
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