[OSList] Occupy report

Mon May 7 14:50:10 PDT 2012

Hey Raffi  Good job! - I don't know about Genuine Contact (always good I am
sure) but presence and focus, no matter how achieved, (long walk, a little
meditation.) will get you "on the field." After that  -- Be prepared to be
surprised. And you will (be). When the surprises come in the opening, just
remember you are NOT doing a process - the process is DOING you. Just roll.
It will roll. Always has, and always will - until we all run out of steam.
To help it along, (and to deal with that "questionable character") - the
"waiter's back" is a great strategy. Once you start, take no questions, (or
prisoners) - and when that questioner/interrupter shows up on you peripheral
vision, just make sure your back is turned (like all waiters when you want
service J). Head for the finish line! If your "intro" is 15 min or less (and
more is a problem!) - Folks will be standing up to announce their issues
before the "opposition" ever gets itself together. From there on out, it is
just gone. After all, been doing this for 13.7 billion years. We've been
here before. It really is that simple!

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)

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Raffi
Aftandelian
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 3:03 PM
To: OSlist
Subject: [OSList] Occupy report

dear spacenik friends,

I'd just like to share that on Saturday we held a daylong OST event for
Occupy here in San Diego. 50 souls showed up and worked with passion. 

Nothing truly earth-shattering to report. 

People left feeling very inspired, satisfied. Perhaps the work of this event
was more directed towards building trust, building community than anything
else. As one Unitarian Universalist minister (he mentioned to me that he'd
taken part in a multiday OST event for 4,000 Unitarians!...and while that
found that event to be fruitful, organizing it seemed like too much work to
them so they didn't want to hold their annual meeting in OST in subsequent
years) who took part pointed out, Occupy skipped the work of creating a
foundation of relationships and community before moving to action and now
it's doing that work.

New things for me:

* as part of my personal preparation for the event this was the first time I
used an applied awareness tool called "Catastrophizing Consciously," which,
among other things, prepares one to be surprised. This was especially
helpful because one of my fears was that someone would disrupt the opening.
And we have had our share of provocateurs here in San Diego. Doing that
preparation reminded me that no one (and everyone) is in charge...

It was interesting that right after the opening someone did try to take
charge-- and was ignored.

One of my fears was that since the organizing group did not include many key
people in Occupy locally (I was the original "caller") that the event would
not have weight and would not be well-attended. However, actively seeking
co-inviters and endorsements from the multitude of local Occupy sites gave
the event weight.

* One question that remained unanswered to me was how or if to engage/invite
the one Occupy group many don't like and trust. I had seen one of the people
from that group in other meetings very skillfully manipulate and disrupt
meetings (as best as I can guess- and I can't prove it- it looks like the
actions of someone working for the authorities). So, I was not prepared to
invite that person into the planning and while I did want to personally
invite that group to the event, others were not prepared to do so. In the
end, they came anyway. And things were fine.

But I'm curious, how have you dealt with a person or people in a planning
group who seem to be anxious to subvert the process? Or in an OST meeting?

I'll explain a little more: I'd seen this person basically make meetings
grind to a halt by following process to a "T"- (reminds me of the "Work to
Rule" strikes  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work-to-rule ).

Again, I want to thank this community and the training I received from
Birgitt Williams in the Genuine Contact approach to OST in making this event
successful. There were a number of little things from fellow practitioners
that informed this event. And the careful and thorough approach to planning
offered in the Genuine Contact Program ensured we had a good foundation of
trust within the planning group to do the work.

in gratitude,

raffi

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