[OSList] Fall / Spring Reflections

Wed Sep 2 05:02:22 PDT 2015

Robert – how wonderful to hear from you way down under. Or as you might say – from the top of the earth. All depends on your point of view, and as I wrote my little piece I was very much aware of my provincialism (whatever) and trusted that some good soul, obviously you, would set me straight. J

Harrison

Winter Address

7808 River Falls Drive

Potomac, MD 20854

301-365-2093

Summer Address

189 Beaucaire Ave.

Camden, ME 04843

207-763-3261

Websites

www.openspaceworld.com

www.ho-image.com

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From: OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Robert Chaffe via OSList
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2015 2:11 AM
To: Harrison; World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] Fall / Spring Reflections

Harrison

I also am challenged by change at the end of a very cold winter and the onset of Spring.  The colour is returning with the flowering of the wattle closely followed,today, by the fruit trees bursting with expectation and the hum of the busy bees.

For me it is the reminder that a critical element in all (human) systems is "respect". Beginning with self and then the system.  

Self:  I can change I have the power to change, to do this I must respect/use the gifts I have. 

The system:  Thrives on diversity, respecting this diversity will ensure sustainability - or in simple terms:

There Is more than one way, 

Nothing/ no one is beyond change,

Life Is change,

Respect self and respect others,

Respect (embrace) change and 
Live.

Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" captures the essence of change in the seasons and more....

"O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being, 

Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing, Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, Pestilence-stricken multitudes: 

O thou, Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed The wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low, Each like a corpse within its grave, until Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow Her clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and fill (Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air) With living hues and odours plain and hill: Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear..........."

"Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is: 
What if my leaves are falling like its own! 
The tumult of thy mighty harmonies 
Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone, 
Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce, 
My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one! 
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! 
And, by the incantation of this verse, 
Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! 
Be through my lips to unawakened Earth The trumpet of a prophecy! 
O Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"

Regards

Rob

On 31 Aug 2015, at 5:16 am, Harrison via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

There comes a moment here in Maine when the season turns. It is not a gentle, creep up on you quietly, sort of thing. It is an all at once, very suddenly, kind of thing. There is a change in the light, a different smell on the wind, a chill on the air. Fall. It’s here. Ending. Beginning. Now. 

A time of reflections.

It has taken me a lifetime of living. But. I have learned two things, or maybe better, come to two conclusions. 1) All Systems are open. 2) All systems are self organizing.

All Systems are Open is a complicated way of saying that everything is connected, including all the things that aren’t really a “thing,” which we don’t even know about. The net result is an infinite complexity which is completely unthinkable. And what you can’t think, you surely can’t control. So much for THAT vain hope.

All Systems are self Organizing -- I know of no way of actually proving this one, but it does seem a natural concomitant of the first conclusion. If you find yourself in an infinitely complex and interconnected environment, where nobody is, or can be, in control, such systems as are there, must have pretty well gotten themselves together all by themselves. Of course there are a number of people who are sure that God did it, and personally I don’t have any real problem with that. But ascribing it all to divine agency doesn’t help us very much. We still don’t have much control and the systems around us, including those we think we organized, have a source other than our selves.  

Life under the conditions described above (Open, Self Organizing Systems) can seem a little peculiar to some people, but it is not so much irrational as different. Certain “strange” things always seem to happen. For example, Whoever comes are the right people, whatever happens is the only thing that could have, wherever it happens is the right place, whenever it happens is the right time, and when it is over it is over. Always works out  that way, so I’ve found.

All this appears conducive to a very passive existence. Not much for us to do. And the truth of the matter is that doing less always seems to accomplish a great deal more. That said, there is one thing that we really have to do. Follow the Law of Two Feet! Strange sort of law which says – If ever you find yourself in a situation in which you are neither learning or contributing, you must move your two feet until you find yourself a new place where you can do the one, the other, or preferably, both. In a few words: Follow your passion and take responsibility for it.

It took 80 years. Fun!

Harrison 

Winter Address

7808 River Falls Drive

Potomac, MD 20854

301-365-2093

Summer Address

189 Beaucaire Ave.

Camden, ME 04843

207-763-3261

Websites

www.openspaceworld.com <http://%20www.openspaceworld.com> 

www.ho-image.com

OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST Go to: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org

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