[OSList] occupy Open Space?!

Mon Oct 10 06:28:06 PDT 2011

Pat - of course the circles occur naturally!  J ("Wherever it happens is the
right place.") And I think the point of learning will be how to help the
people understand the power of what they are doing naturally. One problem
with "natural occurrences" is that they feel "so natural" that nobody
notices. I think we have the same issue in Open Space. The whole thing feels
so natural that many participants don't fully realize just how powerful and
different it is. A little reflection helps - which was my point in using the
Medicine wheel. Nothing heavy - as in Sit down and Listen! Just some soft
pointers serve to deepen and ground the experience. So then the question is
can we do the same sort of thing in situations such as you are
experiencing??? I think so, but I am not quite sure how. So a little trial
and error might be in order.

A second area of exploration might be how to encourage "better circles."
Something simple like - "leave plenty of space in the middle." And/or How to
encourage the growth of a circle. You said that the circle eventually
expanded - is there some way to help that subtly? 

A great opportunity for experiment!

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)

Camden, Maine 20854

Phone 301-365-2093

(summer)  207-763-3261

www.openspaceworld.com

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Pat Black
Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2011 6:27 PM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] occupy Open Space?!

I sat at the general assembly today and a circle formed with a smaller
group.  More came to sit in the circle but it didn't open up.  After
sometime people gradually started to slide out, as if the circle itself was
pushing them out to make space for others.  After a time the circle grew
enough to hold all. The power of circles has taken hold on its own I think.

Pat 

On Sun, Oct 9, 2011 at 5:05 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:

Circles, Pat, Circles! Help them to see the power of circles. It happens
naturally, of course, but with a little nudge it becomes "the way we do
things." As you know that changes the ethos dramatically. Have fun.

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)

Camden, Maine 20854

Phone 301-365-2093

(summer)  207-763-3261

www.openspaceworld.com

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST
Go to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org

From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Pat Black
Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2011 4:47 PM
To: Raffi Aftandelian; World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] occupy Open Space?!

The Occupy Minnesota is happening at the People's Plaza formerly known as
the Government Plaza.  This is a whole range of people that range from
anti-capitalist to Ron Paul supporters.  There were several hundred people
there Friday and Saturday, fewer today.  The mayor of Minneapolis spoke
through the people's mic on Friday and so did Jessie Ventura the former
governor / wrestler.  The police are relaxed and have been ordered to leave
people be within the constraints that have been set up.  There is lots of
learning about process going on.  The participants are mostly young and just
beginning to claim their space but there are a few old timers there as well
and of course the people who live on these streets normally.  They seem to
have their food and logistical pieces functioning well and are currently
looking for ways to get more folks out so that their presence can be
sustained especially when the weather turns.  We have been lucky weather
wise so far but the season will turn before long and when it does it could
be drastic.  I have seen 3 feet of snow and 20- zero on October 30th here,
so this can be a life threatening concern.  

It has been great to be out there.  The energy is intense and full of
possibility.  There are lots of sentences that include the word space and
that is exciting.  I am hoping to spend a lot of time out there.  They are
going to create something akin to an agenda wall with the causes that have
brought people there.

Pat Black

On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 11:35 PM, Raffi Aftandelian <raffi_1970 at yahoo.com>
wrote:

dear open space and genuine contact friends (aka spaceniki and, perhaps,
"wheelies")-

Tonight marked the spirited kick-off for Occupy San Diego, one of the many
local initiatives around the world taking place in solidarity with Occupy
Wall Street. Speaking as a process artist (OST facilitator and Genuine
Contact Program certified trainer) and a charmingly flawed co-human with a
heart who is planning on camping out (occupy?!) on site for  while, I wanted
to share some thoughts and observations and also extend an invitation.

First off, taking part in all of this- tonight's march or attending the
General Assembly (I was at last night's assembly- 130 people were there!)-
really stretches me. I can't align with any of the adversarial language and
expression here. So, as we marched today I was just silent, holding my
multi-colored sign which read, "What does a wise, compassionate and glocal
response to massive economic injustice look like?"  Heck, even calling it
"Occupy" make me shudder!!!

It is physically just very challenging to be in the presence of all of that
energy. That said, from the the *moment* I heard of Occupy Wall Street, I
had an *immediate* intuitive hit that this is something different, that this
is something that I have to support. And at the very least this initiative
could be supported by bearing witness-- and the simplest way I could do that
is just camp there, just sleep there. That's it. 

Perhaps the act of sleeping in a public space can be a way of claiming *and*
opening space, a way of dreaming the New Story into being?

Also, I'm amazed to see how many different people locally have heard of the
local Occupy San Diego initiative and how many different people I know
showed up tonight! It's almost as if somewhere deep down there was a part of
us that knew this is something we need to support.

One of the things that encouraged me while attending General Assembly last
night was the readiness and willingness of people from disparate points of
view to hear each other out. What I'm seeing is messy, imperfect, and I know
and imagine that ball has been dropped. But overall, it's a rather
encouraging picture. It's also encouraging to see meditation part of the
picture, too. A 20+ minute flash mob still silent sitting meditation took
place after the march tonight

And indeed it has a lot of open space feeling to it. The general assembly
and committees had been meeting at Children's Park (high play and high
learning anyone??) here downtown. The park is made up of large circular
patches of grass bordered with concrete. Each committee met in a different
patch - marked with the name of the committee. And you just went to the
committee you wanted. And from what i could see, if you wanted to create a
new committee, you could do that, too! (apparently, there is a process
committee here, too).

I'm curious if there are other process artists out there on or off these
lists who are also supporting Occupy... where you are. I'd love to enter
into conversation (skype call anyone??) on or offlist to explore the ways we
as process artists can support this initiative. Drop me a line!

much warmth from the pacific coast,

raffi

p.s. to catch some of the flavor of our local "Occupation," see 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/occupysd/
http://www.livestream.com/occupysd

p.p.s. I look forward to circulating widely this piece by zen teacher and
peacemaker, Bernie Glassman
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/10/we-are-the-100/

p.p.p.s. to borrow a turn of phrase from a fellow spacenik who lives
DownUnder-- "What can happen?"

powered by ubuntu 10.4

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