[OSList] Circle of One (was OSList Digest, Vol 19, Issue 5)

Wed Sep 12 10:14:24 PDT 2012

I so appreciated seeing this quote this am as I reflect on Norm Hirst's
passing.  some of you knew him and I wanted to share a remembering of his
Individuality with the Open Space community who so reflect so much of his
findings and life's work. With appreciation and love, Skye Hirst

http://knox.villagesoup.com/people/announcement/obituaries/norman-hirst/895326

On Wed, Sep 12, 2012 at 9:43 AM, Brendan McKeague <mckeaguebrendan at gmail.com
> wrote:

> Well Gijs...what a lovely memory you're triggering from the Presidio..and
> Matilda's creativity in Berlin
>
> Here is a the context, best expressed for me by John O'Donohue in his
> inspirational book, Anam Cara...Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World
>
> "Individuality is never simple or one dimensional.  Often it seems as if
> there is a crowd within the individual heart … At the deepest level of the
> human heart, there is no simple, singular self.  Deep within there is a
> gallery of different selves.  Each one of these figures expresses a
> different part of your nature.  Sometimes they will come into
> contradiction and conflict with each other.  If you only meet these
> contradictions on the surface level, this can start an inner feud that
> could haunt you all the days of your life.  Frequently, you see people
> who are sorely divided.  They are in a permanent war zone and have never
> managed to go deeper to the hearth of kinship where the two forces are not
> enemies, but reveal themselves to be different sides of one belonging.
>
> We cannot embody in action the multiplicity of selves we encounter in our
> most inward meditations.  But without a knowledge of these numberless
> selves our existence is severely diminished and our access to mystery is
> blocked.  We are talking here of the imagination and its riches; too
> often we degrade imagination to a problem-solving technique.
>
> We need to develop a new sense of the wonderful complexity of the self.  We
> need thought models or patterns which are fair and appropriate to that
> complexity.  When people discover their own complexity, they become
> afraid and with the hammers of second-hand thoughts they beat this rich
> internal landscape into a monoscape.  They make themselves conform.  They
> agree to fit in; they cease to be vivid presences, even to themselves."  (
> pp146-48)
>
> This notion got me to thinking - how would it be to facilitate an Open
> Space meeting for my 'inner village', or 'inner family'...or 'inner
> tribe'....
> A colleague of mine had introduced me to the Jungian 'thought model' of
> 'Active Imagination' where we can create a space for conversation with
> these inner-village people by intentionally engaging our imagination. These
> characters often appear in dreams and I had been setting time aside to have
> a yarn with each of them in response to the purpose behind their appearance
> in my subconscious world. I would sit quietly with journal and write out
> the conversation as it unfolded...a kind of imaginary dialogue with 'part
> of me' that needed to be given voice in my conscious, ego-controlled
> presence.  This was very useful for me in surfacing and addressing some
> 'shadow issues' with a trusted companion (spiritual guide, therapist...).
>
> I then wondered what it would feel like if I invited whoever wished to
> come along to an Inner VIllage Open Space meeting - and guess what, it was
> very similar to an outer-world meeting...issue an invitation around a theme
> that's significant for me at the time, see who shows up, post topics, host
> conversations, converge and plan actions....with me (ego state) the
> sponsor/facilitator recording the proceedings and getting more in touch
> with the deeper recesses of my 'truth'....and I must confess that some
> quite shady characters often show up - an old/familiar acquaintance, a shy
> stranger, a domineering autocrat, a frightened child, a passionate
> activist....all the right 'people' of course!
>
> So, maybe its the leprechauns in me...regardless, I love it - even tho
> some of these meetings can be very draining and last for a couple of
> hours...its a rich experience.
>
> Cheers
> Brendan
> (and his village)
>
>
> On 12/09/2012, at 4:50 PM, Gijs Mega wrote:
>
> In san francisco wosonos I joined a session of my friend Brendan from
> Perth with a similar topic. The exact name I forgot. Opening space for all
> the voices in the head: most of us have worries, guilt, ego, but also roles
> we have such as parent, income earner, friend....
> It was the facilitator's role to give space to all voices and to park
> space invaders.
> After the meditative session, he would write down the notes as good as
> possible and those he would discuss with some sort of personal coach on a
> regular basis. As I recall sessions were on average around an hour, maybe
> two.
>
> It was very interesting to hear and I would love to hear it again or more.
>
> Best wishes
> Gijs
>
>
> Send from iPad
>
>
> On Sep 12, 2012, at 7:09 AM, Harold Shinsato <harold at shinsato.com> wrote:
>
> Matilda Leyser held a delightful session "A Circle of One - Opening Space
> On Your Own" at 1:30 pm Thursday May 13 in Berlin at the 2010 World Open
> Space on Open Space. It was an innovative and very useful session, where
> Matilda demonstrated how she uses Open Space Technology on her own to help
> her resolve issues and especially creative scenarios for play writing using
> different spaces in a room or a few rooms using stuffed animals to
> represent different aspects of her own psyche or persona. I wish I had
> written up notes for the event, or someone had, but there's no evidence of
> the session other than my photo of the schedule wall (which is how I know
> when it happened!).
>
> What I remember, and I hope she or someone else corrects me if my memory
> is faulty, is that she would begin with the regular opening with a circle
> of herself and the stuffed animals or other objects, then write out the
> different topic sessions - and then have different representatives move to
> the different spaces and she would move around between them using the law
> of two feet, and move the representatives as well. She used it in shorter
> sessions, a couple hours, and also all day long. Though I think mostly half
> a day sessions.
>
> Anyone else remember this session and any other highlights of the ideas
> that were covered? Anyone else know of any other experiments like Matilda's?
>
>     Cheers!
>     Harold
>
> On 9/11/12 10:08 AM, Elisabeth Teppper wrote:
>
> I believe the hardest of Spaces to Open are with ourselves!  So a One person OS is also valid!!
> Love
> Elisabeth
> Venezuela
> Elisabeth Tepper Kofod  -  Facilitadora de Procesos de Transformación
>
>
>
> --
> Harold Shinsato
>  <harold at shinsato.com>harold at shinsato.com
>  <http://shinsato.com/>http://shinsato.com
> twitter: @hajush <http://twitter.com/hajush>
>
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