[OSList] LOVE

Sat Aug 27 14:33:28 PDT 2016

As usual you hit the “TILT” button and went beyond. So there is no news here. All of which is to say that I could never bring myself to say what you did…. And I can’t disagree with a word. 

Anyhow. I think a university program (MA, PhD, whatever) focused on Open Space, self organization in life, life… would be just wonderful. 

I just couldn’t imagine how such a program might capture the passion and power you express (and I would guess a lot of us experience). It could get out of control. 

Harrison

Winter Address

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

301-365-2093

Summer Address

189 Beaucauire Ave

Camden, ME 04843

207 763-3261

Websites

www.openspaceworld.com

www.ho-image.com

From: OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Suzanne Daigle via OSList
Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2016 1:09 PM
To: OSLIST
Subject: [OSList] LOVE

Anne Stadler wrote:

Love... 
“A world that works for ALL is a world of love made visible”

How I love Open Space and what it invites, what unfolds and what it reveals inside us. Yes the word LOVE seems to capture it with such utter simplicity.

I decided to create a separate post while honoring the question about University Training. Anne’s words unleashed a tsunami in me.

This 2 martini, coffee break thing that's been around for 30 plus years and counting ignites something inside us that's always been there, a pure, infinite, boundless love of life and love of everything around us, a noticing that seems sharper, crisper, more joyful, and more full of possibility.

Our 2 martini, coffee break open space …

·         from the budding seed of an idea to convene around something that matters much, 

·         to the invitation where we're inviting people to something so different from what they know,  an invitation that is filled with listening and connecting

·         to the point  we are together sitting in a circle where it will unfold in so many unique ways depending on the individual. 

It's like a play within a play, with stuff going on outside of us and inside us.

·         Our senses are awakened; we are on the alert whether anticipation or healthy nervous anxiety. As the facilitator walks the circle, knowing this is happening and will happen, the words humble, gratitude, quiet, calm, totally present and yes LOVE come to mind.

·         During and afterwards, the Open Space continues to percolate inside us... it has done its magic reminding us of the essence of life. Whether we are aware of it or not in the moment or weeks, months and even years later, we sense that something is happening, has happened. That space that was inside us all along suddenly feels as if it's been set free, ready to expand ever more. We feel an invitation to freedom one that we’ve may have been deprived of if we were folks that behaved and conformed to society’s norms. Like new clothes, it can feel uncomfortable at first; we can feel somewhat discombobulated. 

Free to choose, free to be courageous, to breathe and yes to LOVE.  Whether the law of 2 feet or the principles, these are all reminders of the freedom that is ours to choose ignited by the Two Martini/Coffee Break of Open Space.  

I became a grandma a few years ago and as I watch and feel my little grandson engage in life, I see the open space of life bursting out of him, not holding back anything, curiosity, awe, joy, pain and hurts, exuberant energy and words that sound like music each with such intonation. He exudes LOVE moment by moment. Oh to capture and nourish that side of ourselves before it gets muffled by society and fears and the mechanistic way of doing things. 

And then these past few years, I've been working with a Packaging Association in Central Florida. Open Space was alive and well before I arrived... Not the two martini, coffee break one but the spirit of Open Space. When I joined they expressed that they had been drifting. Their meetings were less attended, many on the Board were tired having serving for many years. 
We spent time together, I attended their meetings and became a part of them in the shared passion around work, packaging, manufacturing, etc. By asking questions, space opened and they/we began to dream again. 

In January 2016 we started talking about an Open Space; in March we started inviting; in June we hosted a one day gathering to record attendance -- 80 people, more than we could have hoped. The naysayers (“nobody will come there”) had been proven wrong. Interestingly as the invitation evolved, some of those naysayers registered. It made us smile and we welcomed everyone with open arms, Life shifting in beautiful ways. 

The two martini Open Space started to work its magic from the moment the idea of packaging Open Space became a possibility. The team poured its heart into the planning and inviting; doubts haunted them at times but nothing could stop us. We found courage with others and with each other. Many moments of happy and hopeful anticipation and lots of anxious moments too.  They/we learned together on how to invite to something with no power points, no speakers, no panels, visits or tours, for one full day. As it had been with Creative New Jersey <http://www.creativenj.org/about/the-idea/#.V8G_5VeeNcY>  years ago, we took the invitation job seriously, we engaged in many conversations, we listened, we connected, we invited and invited by speaking the issues, the possibilities and our heart.  

Those early conversations opened tons of space -- space that is still vibrantly open today with many in the industry whether they attended or not. People could feel our shared purpose, our “can do, unstoppable” attitude, our optimism. It was embodied in the Theme “Evolve or Perish – A Future of Exponential Growth and Unlimited Possibilities” <https://evolveorperish.wordpress.com/> . Serious and urgent stuff.

Today we are brimming with projects and plans. Open Space is in us and part of us. 

Never in my entire life have I worked with a group so connected with each other, so open and inviting to others. Step by step, on top of their day jobs, our work and plans continue, bigger than any one of us could have imagined. Grounded, serious, purposeful, it has become a labor of love and as our plans grow and the energy around it does too, it becomes infectious, attracting and igniting others who want to be part of these serious meaningful projects. It is also infecting other parts of our lives – in the everyday work as people step into their own leadership in their own companies – bolder, more confident, clearer and increasingly articulate in speaking that which can and should be done. Their colleagues, leaders and others in their organization are noticing.  Space is opening there too, slowly but surely. 

I have written very long... and most certainly strayed from the point on university training which was the subject of the post that Anne Stadler responded to. In my mind, there can be no official training or certification for this. The training happens in all kinds of ways, in the inviting, in the sharing, in the talking out loud, doing and being ourselves. 

Training can happen in so many ways as it has been happening over decades – no formula, no best way, no set program or certification. Whether individually (amazing trainers and facilitators around the globe) or in teams as happens in New York at International House every January with Harrison and Karen Davis  or soon in September at the Contorno workshop <http://www.contorno-consulting.com/092016-ost-workshop>  in the Netherlands with Thomas Hermann, Anna Carolina Turk (Germany) and Doris Gottlieb (US/The Netherlands). Then of course, one cannot forget World Open Space and others like it in various countries. I’m planning to be in Manila in November at WOSonOS2016 <http://www.wosonos2016.com/>  hosted by Sharon Joy Chao. In 2009 we were two newbies together at WOSonOS Taiwan hosted by Gail West. We knew then that there was something incredibly profound about Open Space and we each ran towards it. We will celebrate our friendship together in person and I, with others, will hold space for her. 

Yes, there are those basic steps that can be taught quite easily -- all described in Harrison’s Open Space User Guide. But for the rest, the stuff that talks to love and life which Open Space invites, there is no training, there's just the wave riding of life, meeting and reaching out for every wave, each moment more exhilarating than the other, in the joy, the pain, the endings and beginnings. 

I could write and write and write. Thank you for indulging me as I speak my Open Space soul after a long absence on this list. I’ve just been busy living it. 

Suzanne grateful for Anne's simple word and phrase about LOVE 

P.S. Today I dedicate this piece of writing about love to our Open Space colleague Hélène de St. Front who is marrying this weekend in France. We met in Open Space in Paris, later she traveled to Washington to meet Harrison in person and then, this past January, she came to International House in New York and then to Florida with Amy Chen and I. We were the first to see her wedding dress which she paraded at my home and which she bought in New York. You can't invent stories like this. It's the magic of the synchronicity that happens in Open Space. 

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 @Daiglesuz

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20160827/ce7d82d9/attachment.htm>