[OSList] OS for Dementia?

doug ost at footprintsinthewind.com
Fri Nov 15 07:22:04 PST 2013


Suzanne--

What has been the underlying current of the conversation on AI list 
about this?

		:- Doug.



On 11/15/2013 01:08 AM, Christine Whitney Sanchez wrote:
> Doug, Suzanne, Harrison and all,
>
> I find it interesting that a few weeks before Doug started this
> conversation, a parallel conversation about using Appreciative Inquiry
> with people with memory loss has been taking place on the AI Listserv.
>
> And I find it heartening to simply hear your voices via this wonderful
> list.  I’ve been a butterfly for quite a while but I am in the space
> with you.
>
> Namasté,
>
> Christine
>
> Christine Whitney Sanchez, Partner
> Innovation Partners International
> Phoenix, AZ, USA  +1.480.759.0262
> www.innovationpartners.com <http://www.innovationpartners.com>
>
>
> On Nov 14, 2013, at 7:50 PM, doug <ost at footprintsinthewind.com
> <mailto:ost at footprintsinthewind.com>> wrote:
>
> Suzanne and Harrison--
>
> Thanks Harrison and Suzanne. What I picture from what you have each
> written is opening space in an even more open manner. Lisa-style,
> without words perhaps, just inviting with eyes and hugs and music or
> humming or pictures or dancing with your hands....
>
> :- Doug.
>
>
>
>
> On 11/14/2013 03:09 PM, Suzanne Daigle wrote:
>> Well Harrison... I guess I will need to reflect on that...or not so
>> much.  Funny how when it gets real close, like really close, we do a lot
>> to eliminate the pain (for a mom, a child or whoever) and pain there was
>> when spaces around mom felt really closed and conversations seemed more
>> like interrogations.
>>
>> Open Space was never like that for me so... I will open myself up and
>> tell myself that whatever I did to make some of the hurt go away was not
>> controlling or wrong, it was simply Life and Open Space. And I guess
>> that's the point that I'm getting right now.
>>
>> So Doug, perhaps what I can imagine now through and with  Open Space is
>> that more and more people would have opportunity to be with each other
>> in the way that Open Space invites us to be with each other. And there
>> would be much that would be good that would happen -- loving connections
>> with new insights I imagine.
>>
>> Like wow, I can feel a few knots in my stomach feeling myself shift a
>> belief that I was so certain about.
>>
>> Thank you for this rich insight Harrison. But I do still have those
>> knots in my stomach thinking about it.
>>
>> Suzanne
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 11:27 AM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net
>> <mailto:hhowen at verizon.net>
>> <mailto:hhowen at verizon.net>> wrote:
>>
>>    Doug -- I've been a little slow to respond to this one. Slowness
>>    seems to
>>    come with advancing years. To your question -- OS for folks with
>>    Dementia?
>>    Why not?
>>
>>    If nothing else that population of folks would probably include just
>>    about
>>    everybody over 65. Of course, Dementia comes in a variety of flavors
>>    from
>>    mild to horrific, but those of us of a certain age have more than a
>>    little
>>    existential experience with the critter. It is a little upsetting,
>>    sometimes. The name of your best friend which evaporated. Those lost
>>    eyeglasses that you suddenly find on your nose. Finding yourself
>>    standing in
>>    the middle of a familiar room with absolutely no idea about why you
>> were
>>    there, and what on earth you came to do. It happens. Been there...
>>
>>    So, OS for Dementia? Certainly, unless of course those of us so
>>    afflicted
>>    have suddenly been excluded from the sacred circle of Homo sapiens. And
>>    actually, I don't really think there is much choice. Fact is (I
>>    find), all
>>    the world is self organizing (open space) and life goes better for
>>    those who
>>    have learned, in one way or another, to navigate that world. Life gets
>>    clunky, closed and (more) painful when we make the mistake of
>>    thinking we
>>    are actually in charge. I think this is true for all of us, but for
>>    those of
>>    us with diminished(ing) mental capacity there are some special traps
>>    along
>>    the way.
>>
>>    For example, take the situation of the forgotten name. We can sit
>>    there and
>>    agonize over the lapse of memory. We can beat on ourselves for being so
>>    forgetful. We can remember (oh yes, we do remember some things!)
>> how the
>>    proper name just sprang instantly to mind...
>>
>>    With a little effort we can feel totally miserable, and our misery is
>>    compounded by the fact that the harder we try to remember, the more
>>    distant
>>    that elusive name seems to become. But there is a solution -- Just
>>    let it
>>    go! More often than not, once we let go, the all important name
>>    miraculously
>>    appears. And if it doesn't... A smile is often better than proper
>>    nomenclature.
>>
>>    A little Open Space is good for just about everything and everybody.
>>    And I
>>    have to admit that I have forgotten all the things it isn't good for.
>>
>>
>>    Harrison
>>
>>    Harrison Owen
>>    7808 River Falls Dr.
>>    Potomac, MD 20854
>>    USA
>>
>>    189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)
>>    Camden, Maine 04843
>>
>>    Phone 301-365-2093 <tel:301-365-2093>
>>    (summer) 207-763-3261 <tel:207-763-3261>
>>
>> www.openspaceworld.com
>> <http://www.openspaceworld.com/><http://www.openspaceworld.com
>> <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>>
>> www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com/><http://www.ho-image.com
>> <http://www.ho-image.com/>> (Personal Website)
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>>    -----Original Message-----
>>    From:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
>> <mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>
>>    <mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>
>>    [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
>>    <mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>] On Behalf Of doug
>>    Sent: Friday, November 08, 2013 11:10 AM
>>    To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
>>    Subject: [OSList] OS for Dementia?
>>
>>    Friends--
>>
>>    Have been thinking that a population OST could serve in a major good
>>    way is
>>    among people who have dementia. How?
>>
>>    Perhaps we have a mixed group of people with dementia living in a
>>    congregate
>>    housing setting and teenagers. We gather them in a circle and do the
>>    normal
>>    things. The teenagers could help the oldsters remember the
>>    instructions and
>>    post topics. The title could be "Issues and Opportunities with Growing
>>    Younger Every Day."
>>
>>    How, if at all, would you change the normal format of OST for this
>>    group?
>>    What other mixture of people would you invite? What other titles?
>>
>>    Perhaps we could get family members to gather with them around the
>> topic
>>    "Issues and Opportunities to Still Be Family" or "Meet Me Here Today."
>>
>>    I wonder.... I invite you to wonder with me....
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Suzanne Daigle
>> Open Space Facilitator
>> NuFocus Strategic Group
>>
>> FL 941-359-8877
>> Cell: 203-722-2009
>> www.nufocusgroup.com
>> <http://www.nufocusgroup.com/><http://www.nufocusgroup.com
>> <http://www.nufocusgroup.com/>>
>> s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
>> <mailto:s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com><mailto:s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com>
>> twitter @suzannedaigle
>>
>>
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