[OSList] I am fresh In the os community

Sun Sep 8 09:13:45 PDT 2013

Salwa - Thank you so much for your posting. The pain (your pain) is
palpable. Your searching is inspiring. Above all, what you have written is a
salient and powerful reminder of the full scope of the tumultuous,
transforming world in which we all live. We would prefer something more
stable and predictable, a world in which the problems and issues that we
face are amenable to quick-fix solutions - a "right" process here or the
insights proclaimed by "Thought Leaders," those supposed experts on life.
That world, unfortunately, does not exist, and never has. 

The reality is the ongoing flow of Chaos ... breaking the established order,
clearing the ground to make way for New Order to emerge. It is the dance of
creation and destruction which takes place at all levels and scales of our
experience. There are moments, such as now, when the great tectonic plates
of our world slam together, swallowing mountains and building new ones. The
ground shakes and burns. It is a time of ending, pain and terror. But it is
also the time of renewal - at least that has been the story to date.

Understandably we do everything in our power to resist the powerful forces
around us. Perhaps we could return to the apparently stable and predictable
world we once knew? To be sure there were imperfections, but we knew what
they were. Maybe we did have a Dictator, but he was "our" Dictator.
Understandable, but futile. And truth to tell, to the extent that we
actually succeed in slowing the flow, we only insure that the forces will
build until they explode again with magnified violence. 

If return is impossible, then at the very least we might identify the guilty
parties - those misguided folks who got us into all this mess. You mention
the Media and there are a myriad possible candidates. But the truth of the
matter ... We are all responsible, including those of us who sit in apparent
safety for the moment. And - curiously - none of us are responsible, for
what is occurring in our midst is so much bigger than some misguided
ideology, questionable political judgment, or professional malfeasance. It
is simply and profoundly Life moving on. And although it may come as a blow
to our collective egos - we are a very small and inconsequential part of
that Life, only lately arrived on the scene.

Now - What about Open Space? What on earth could that funny little process
have to do with the cataclysmic events of the moment? A lot, I think - but
probably not the sorts of things we might wish for...

Open Space will not render order out of the chaos. Open Space will not
eliminate the pain we experience because of the chaos. Open Space will not
solve the multiple problems, major and minor, that have manifest in the
moment: the hostility, the aggression, the fractures in communications, the
madness of men and nations. Above all, Open Space will not provide the
ordered steps to regaining our sense of control. In a word, Open Space won't
fix it! The reason is simple - There is nothing to fix. Life is just doing
Life... performing the great cosmic dance between Chaos and Order as it has
from the beginning. We, however, may join the dance as willing, and
eventually, skilled partners. The gift of Open Space is to offer the
invitation and provide the opportunity for practice. The dance itself,
however, is not ours to design or control, and attempting to do either is to
compound our pain and frustration.  

The invitation of Open Space is a simple one: To join the Dance of Life. We
may enter  through any one of an infinite number of doorways, all sharing a
common feature - We Care. We care about many things, and each one of us may
care about something different. But all doorways lead to a common space,
which we might call a Community of Caring. Once there the Dance may begin
for us. Or more exactly we may join the Dance which has been underway for a
long, long time. Curiously, we do not have to learn the dance. It is all
about remembering what we already know, albeit our memory may be more than a
little foggy, and our initial steps a little shaky - but everything does
come rushing back if we just take a deep breath and let it happen. No
training required, no instruction necessary.

It is true, we do have 5 Principles and 1 Law. But they are there to help us
remember what we already know - and not to tell us what to do. In fact both
the principles and the law are descriptive and not prescriptive. They
represent a simple summary of the common experience of being in Open Space.
They can be helpful for new comers (and old timers) as gentle reminders of
what will likely happen...even if the law and the principles are never
mentioned. It is not a question of right or wrong, correct or incorrect,
moral or the opposite. It is just "What is," so far as we have been able to
see. 

So my friend, thanks for sharing, and Enjoy the Dance. It is the only one we
have got. To be sure, things do get interesting, to say nothing of scary and
stressful. And when that happens, take a deep breath and Dance on. Don't
forget, you have a lot of partners - US.

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)

Camden, Maine 04843

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 sos1910
Sent: Saturday, September 07, 2013 2:10 AM
To: OSList at lists.openspacetech.org
Subject: [OSList] I am fresh In the os community

My name is Salwa alsukhon...I am still fresh In the OS community and humbled
by you all experts out there. So if I sound too naiive or fresh on thoughts
or approaches I'm reliefed that the OS community out of all communities will
take me in and allow me some space.  

 I come from Jordan in the Middle East. A small country trying hardly to
survive amongst the turmoil you hear about in the media...we are the last
little piece of land in our area that is blessed with some security so
far...we are apprehensive and on our toes all the time of what is coming
next...

We received our family and brotbers and sisters in the past and still do
from Palestine, Iraq, Yemen and Libya. We are now homing the terrified
syrian people,we do it with love,regardless of media claims,because we are
all one big family and we don't mind sharing our meagre resources with them
with regards to space, food, water...etc. The biggest issue here is:what is
the media doing to us...

I read your posts about a hero's journey and about journalism and the
california event and if I may I have a message to send and again please
pardon my naiivty if I sound so: we are having tens of heros and hundrereds
of victims in Egypt in Syria in yeman in tunisia in libya...I implore the
journalists and the media to open space for the Arab world. One of the
reason for this turmoil and hell we are living in:THE MEDIA.

They are running the war more than leaders. We do not know anymore what is
true and what is fabricated. People dont know why they are being killed and
killers do not really know why they are killing,truths and facts are being
twisted with one result each time...a morbid carnage festival, we are
suffering,people are not only losing their lives or their homes or even
their countries, those of us who still survive are losing their hopes and
dreams.  

It is all destruction and death around us, an abyss of horror that has no
visible end...

I implore the media again to help us and not use us anymore to record
breaking news and hit interviews or aspire for awards on documentaries or
whatever...we are people like them too, we have families we had dreams, the
so called arab spring has turned Into a waste land with ghosts of murdered
children and bombarded homes....a carnage festival where death machines
running the scene....open space for us...cut us some slack, we are nations
of terrorists that must be oblitrated from the face of earth. 

I was blessed last March to moderate an open space conference in Jordan for
palestinian  refugee women

that hosted refugees from Jordan,Palestine, Gaza and Lebanon. It was a
unique experience not only for the participants but also for me as I
discovered things in me I never thought of...the question I keep asking
myself now: is it right for me and the world to apply the law of the
2feet?what is meant to happen will happen? Is it moral? Or are we
butterflies and bumblebies? The irony and danger of the other  question:
will the majority of the arab world turn into refugees? It will be great for
business minds who think of more conferences and initiatives...etc. But then
when the media and the international community lose their moral
compass....is there anything else that is worth our while?

Salwa

Sent from Samsung Mobile

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