[OSList] Distributing Harrison's The Practice of Peace

Mon Oct 21 18:03:19 PDT 2013

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Expires: Tuesday, 5 November 2013 1:03:03 PM	

Dear Suzanne (and others),

I am so pleased and humbled that you appreciated my little video from
Marysville. I had come to know Fr Brian after talking with him about the
horrors of my experiences working in a government department. I had heard a
radio interview with Birgitt Williams who was visiting Melbourne and as she
spoke I heard little bells going off in my brain: this person is talking
about my two favourite words - elegant simplicity. From there I tracked Fr
Brian down and was trying to get a handle on this thing called Open Space
Technology. For a small fee I agreed to video the OSonOSinOZ meeting in the
hope of getting some insights into what made OST tick. All up I videoed
around 12 hours of tape (which I still have if anyone is interested)
including a number of interviews including Harrison and several others. I
found the whole experience compelling and was deeply moved when I was
invited to contribute a story to the Closing Circle. The intensity of that
experience was unforgettable - I felt as though I was at the epicentre of a
powerful energy field and could barely speak for shaking! Unbelievable for
someone who had once hosted his own national TV series...

When I set about trying to crystallise OSonOSinOZ in a short video, I found
that the story pretty much told itself. I needed no slick video montages, no
pumping music beat to "sell" the idea. Instead I simply let the natural bush
sounds and the snippets of conversation set their own pace. I once heard one
of the great communicators of biology, Prof Carl Gans, say to a colleague
"If you truly understand your subject, you can tell it to anyone in five
minutes." This to a colleague who was complaining that the seminar
organisers had only allowed him 20 minutes for his presentation.  There's a
parallel I see here. I could easily make a 60 minute documentary about Open
Space from the material I shot at Marysville but I doubt that would achieve
anything more than the little 5 minute clip did. Your responses here in the
list suggest I may be right in this.

As Alan Stewart mentioned, the town of Marysville was destroyed in the
subsequent bushfires and the Marylands Chalet seen in the video was burnt to
the ground. During the conference, Nev Kennard took me for an early morning
flight in his helicopter to get the aerial shots used to open the video.
That video is the last taken of the intact town and of the Chalet. That adds
poignancy to a truly memorable experience. The attached photo shows forest
regrowth a year after the bushfires. Note the large boulder cracked by the
heat of the fire.

So once again, thank you for the opportunity and for the experience.
Although I have never actually hosted an Open Space, I have advocated the
concept to a great many people, one of whom, Stuart Candy, has embodied it
in his own work on an international scale. 

Peace to you all!

David

Dr David Smith
BSc(Hons) PhD FRSA
Director, imaginACTION pty ltd

50 Sweyn Street
Balwyn North
Victoria   3104
AUSTRALIA

t +613 9857 8688
m 0411 444 048
david at imaginaction.net.au
www.imaginaction.net.au <http://www.imaginaction.net.au/> 

imaginACTION
Overall  Winner,  
Australian Achiever Awards
Victorian TV, Film, Audio and Video

From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Suzanne Daigle
Sent: Monday, 21 October 2013 10:19 PM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] Distributing Harrison's The Practice of Peace

Dear Linda, 

I just ordered two boxes of books.  I know they will make wonderful gifts
for friends, family and colleagues at special times. Thank you for
organizing this Linda.

I had procrastinated in placing my order and this morning I can thank Artur
Silva who posted this brief Open Space video on Facebook... from 2002, an
Open Space on Open Space in Marysville Australia. Many familiar faces, a
gentle and beautiful flow, some captions and text  to complement the
footage, and even Harrison announcing a topic:  "The Practice of Peace",
like the title of the books I just bought. 

So whether Open Space is theater, a game, passion/responsibility for high
performance, connection and collaboration, a way of being or life itself,
all I can say is that it was wonderful to start my day in this quiet special
way, feeling the gratitude of friendship and purposeful work through Open
Space.   

Tip of the morning to all (or afternoon or evening, wherever you may be).
Hope you enjoy these 4.51 minutes of pure magic and feel as inspired as I do
right now. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WlRiX_ID68

suzanne

On Tue, Sep 24, 2013 at 7:12 PM, Linda Stevenson <stevenson8899 at msn.com>
wrote:

The Open Space Institute in the US has been gifted boxes of Harrison Owen's
The Practice of Peace books, and we would like to distribute these books
FREE, but do need you to pay  the cost of shipping and handling.  The
minimum order is one box which contains 34 books.  More details and how to
order a box (or boxes) can be found at:

http://osius.org/content/practice-peace-books

Please order a box or more for distribution to colleagues and clients,
friends and family!  The world is in need of some more Open Space and peace,
and we can only store the books until the end of the year.

On behalf of the OSI-US Board, thank you,
Linda Stevenson

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-- 

Suzanne Daigle
Open Space Facilitator
NuFocus Strategic Group

FL 941-359-8877  
Cell: 203-722-2009
www.nufocusgroup.com
s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
twitter @suzannedaigle

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