[OSList] OS for Dementia?

doug ost at footprintsinthewind.com
Fri Nov 15 07:34:31 PST 2013


Sorry, I meant Christine! Maybe my own short term slipping? <grin>

:- Doug.

On 11/15/2013 10:22 AM, doug wrote:
> 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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>>>
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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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