[OSList] Burning Man as Open Space, Temple as ongoing Griefwork

Leslie Zucker (Creative/DC) LeslieZ at CreativeDC.com
Tue Dec 4 08:22:15 PST 2012


Susan,
As a fellow lover of Burning Man and the "burner" community, I totally agree that the "default world" (life outside of Burning Man) can learn so much from the 10 Guiding Principles. While the principles make a lot of intellectual sense in just reading them, to experience them in full force - fully respected- is inspiring and sometimes even indescribable.   Just like with a really juicy Open Space, for me, the energy is inspiring and sometimes indescribable. The Temple burn is also my favorite, as the Temple builds momentum and the impact is increased by the strength in numbers - again like Open Space. That feeling of being in community and in grief at the same time is powerful.

Thanks for drawing that parallel for me, I hadn't thought of it that way before.
Leslie


Leslie S. Zucker
Training Manager
Human Resources Division

Creative Associates International
5301 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20015
Office: 202-772-0022
Fax:    202-363-1258
Email:  LeslieZ at creativeDC.com<mailto:LeslieZ at creativeDC.com>
Website Address:  www.creativeassociatesinternational.com<http://www.creativeassociatesinternational.com/>


From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Susan Partnow
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2012 12:16 PM
To: oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Subject: Re: [OSList] Burning Man as Open Space, Temple as ongoing Griefwork

Thanks for your post Christy - and bringing me back to our wonderful Practice of Peace.

I've been meaning to post about my experience at Burning Man last summer:  I experienced it as the embodiment of a joyful (and grief-ful) totally creative and peaceful world.  My experience of Burning Man: living FULLY in Open Space... whatever wants to happen has the space and time and opportunity to happen. No limits except our imagination and energy. Complete diversity welcomed - clothes on or off, straight or gay or sober, serious or outrageous... The only limits come from inside of you.  -If you're not familiar, each Labor Day week a city of 50,000 +  is erected for one week of outrageous celebration in the stark desert of Black Rock- the scale and complexity is extraordinary.  There are stunning, wild, elaborate art creations - everything from the sublime to most raunchy you can imagine.

What I wanted to address here in terms of Open Space and Giefwork is The Temple.  Each year a beautiful structure is built as The Temple.  People bring collages, poetry, photos, letters, messages - of loved ones (4 leggeds as well as we 2's) - as well as aspects of self - that they are mourning (or seeking to shed)... The spirit there is so sacred and holy, as people come to sit in silent reflection and grief.  On the very last eve, all gather in silence to burn the Temple and all its contents - so purifying.  (As opposed to the wild, raucous, celebratory burning of The Man the night before)... The Temple really inspired me: it seems all communities need such a public space to honor the beloveds we have lost - to come together to dip into our grief - to express and honor the unavoidable companion of loss in our lives... So moving and touching... A ongoing Open Space place to come for grief...

More info for those interested:  I've posted photos on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151166439893958.470595.659683957&type=3


Here are the 10 Guiding Principles Burning Man lives and creates by:

Radical Inclusion
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.
Gifting
Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.

Decommodification
In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.

Radical Self-reliance
Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.

Radical Self-expression
Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.

Communal Effort
Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.

Civic Responsibility
We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.

Leaving No Trace
Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.

Participation
Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.

Immediacy
Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.
Susan
Susan Partnow
Sr. Certified Facilitator, The Compassionate Listening Project
4425 Baker Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107
tel. 206-783-8561
fax 206-782-7786
www.compassionatelistening.org<http://www.compassionatelistening.org/>

www.susanpartnow.com<http://www.susanpartnow.com/>   Partnow Communications, Organizational Development, Consulting & Facilitation
www.globalcitizenjourney.org<http://www.globalcitizenjourney.org/> Founding Director
join our mailing list<http://oi.vresp.com/?fid=fb96ddc75f>
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www.meetup.com/TranspartisanSeattle/<http://www.meetup.com/TranspartisanSeattle/>   Co-Founder, Seattle Transpartisan Alliance

"When we seek for connection, we restore the world to wholeness.  Our seemingly separate lives become meaningful as we discover how truly necessary we are to each other."  --Margaret Wheatley



Message: 1
Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2012 20:32:10 -0800
From: Christy Lee-Engel <cdleee at gmail.com<mailto:cdleee at gmail.com>>
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
            <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org<mailto:oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>>
Subject: Re: [OSList] The Joys of Grief -- With Thanks to Harold
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Dear HO and Harold and all,

Oh, yes.

This vividly reminds me of the first real Open Space I ever came to: the
Practice of Peace at the Whidbey Institute in 2003. Tova Averbuch and Chris
Corrigan offered a session called Grief as an Act of Peacemaking; Grief in
the Facilitator. I recall Tova speaking at the end about a light net
(bright, and also not heavy) (of relationships and connections) that holds
and supports us in as we go through the grief process.
(here are the notes for that session:
http://pop.bigmindcatalyst.com/cgi/bmc.pl?node=5541&range=first)
(and here's the conference site in general:
http://pop.bigmindcatalyst.com/cgi/bmc.pl?node=1)

Our time together during those few days seemed to me to be especially
intense, and maybe that happened partly because it brought together so many
people who were living in and opening space in places of high conflict.
Many sessions touched on and explored great sorrow and pain and seemingly
unbridgeable differences; others unfolded into profound sweetness,
connection, humor, joy; and (of course!) a lot of them contained all of the
above.

Harrison, you write "To the extent that OST is self-organization at work,
it is equally and also Grief Work at work." and I experience that as true.
And I also experience it as Joy Work and Anger Work and Fear Work and
Gratitude Work and etc, etc - all the deep emotions, as Harold pointed out.
When the space is open and held, then we all get to have our whole full
experiences of whatever it is, whenever it is, wherever it is. In
particular, the griefwork scours us and tenderizes us, and somehow helps us
to bear the poignancy of being alive. Or Something Like That. ;-)

And, oh, a tiny bit early *Happy Birthday, Harrison!*
(somehow I think you will appreciate the surprise harmony of sending happy
birthday blessings attached to this particular topic!)

thanks and love, Christy

Christy Lee-Engel, ND, LAc
Director, Bastyr University Center for Spirituality, Science, and
Medicine<https://www.facebook.com/BastyrSpiritualityScienceMedicine>
Acupuncture and Naturopathic Medicine practice: Core Chiropractic and
Wellness <http://corechiropracticseattle.com/>
clinic: 206.708.7172
cell: 206.399.0868
*



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