[OSList] the story I told when opening space in NYC in 2015

Sat Jan 6 17:45:06 PST 2018

Thank you for such a lovely thank you stay warm it’s 7 below here tonight
guess u grew up cold hugs

On Sat, Jan 6, 2018 at 8:01 PM Suzanne Daigle via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

> Christine, merci pour le souvenir de ce Forum Ouvert où tu as ouvert une
> espace extraordinaire.  Thank you Christine for the indelible memory of
> this moment in 2015 when you opened the Space in New York. Your words are
> as powerfully resonant as when you told us the story then. Not too long,
> rest assured.  And Skye thank you for extending such a compelling call to
> action for our upcoming gathering.
>
> In honor of what you've both written, I created a collage of photos from
> years past and posted on Facebook. It's a time when each of you were in New
> York.
>
>
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/7189220743/?multi_permalinks=10156959599630744&notif_id=1515286052533116&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic
>
> Suzanne xoxo
>
>
>
> Suzanne Daigle
> Open Space Facilitator
> NuFocus Strategic Group
>
> FL 941-359-8877
> Cell: 203-722-2009
> www.nufocusgroupusa.com
> s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
> Twitter @Daiglesuz
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 5, 2018 at 5:22 AM, christine koehler via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
>> Dear OS community,
>>
>> As I am preparing myself to open space (and also longing for not being
>> able to join you at the International House next week), I came across the
>> story I wrote just after the Paris attack in 2015 and that I told when
>> opening space for the Practice of Peace.
>> Reading it again after those years, I believe it is too long a story to
>> be used to open space.
>> However, I remember how meaningful it was for me at that time to be able
>> to connect the terrible events I had gone through and the hope I had (and
>> still have) that opening space might be one very meaningful way to act when
>> dealing with events that bring sorrow to life. How meaningful it was also
>> to be able to share my story with you.
>> This summer, while attending an Art of Hosting gathering, I met a man
>> from Austria whose son was deeply injured in the next attack, in November
>> of the same year, in Bataclan, the club where 130 persons were killed.  His
>> family is still today heavily impacted by those terrible days. This made me
>> think that those stories may still be worth sharing.
>>
>> Here it goes.
>>
>> "To begin this seminar and welcome you I could offer you the story of
>> this year theme *“Opening Space for Peace and High Performance in Work
>> and in Life: Navigating Chaos, Confusion and Conflict »*. The first part
>> « Peace and High performance » comes from Harrison. As he loves to tell
>> stories, I am sure he will be delighted to tell it to you when he will be
>> there this afternoon or in the coming days. And if you forget to ask him,
>> just read his book « Wave Rider: leadership for high performance » where
>> the story is being told.
>>
>> Instead I will tell you how strong those words echoed for me in the past
>> days, as we in France went through as you all know those terrible moments.
>>
>>
>> I was in my office on Wednesday, January 7, a  grey winter day in Paris,
>> preparing to receive guests I had invited via Twitter to listen together to
>> the launch of an online course some of you may know : Otto Scharmer’s U
>> lab, dealing with Transforming Business, Society, and Self. A theme dear to
>> my heart.  That’s at that precise moment that I learned that our satirical
>> newspaper Charlie Hebdo, has been attacked and that many of “them” were
>> dead. You may know what happened in those dreadful days: the initial 13
>> deaths,  the tracking, the shooting of several police officers, the Jewish
>> supermarket assaulted, more deaths and the killing of the 3 gunmen.
>>
>> I have seen this going on in front of my eyes. The supermarket is 15mn’s
>> walk away from my apartment. Charlie Hebdo’s newspaper is closed to the
>> university where my daughter is studying. One of the supermarket clients
>> studied in the same business school than my husband.  All those horrors
>> sounding suddenly so close. So during those days, I experienced a large,
>> very large palette of emotions: shock, anger, sadness,  fear, doubt,
>> confusion, more fear for the future: would our society split into opposite
>> camps ? would this lead to more chaos?
>>
>>
>>
>> After Charlie Hebdo’s shooting, a minute of silence was decided in all
>> public spaces. Private places did the same. Schools did the same. As they
>> did so, we suddenly discovered that there were some classes were children
>> would not silent, would not be shocked by what had happened but found it
>> absolutely normal. Suddenly the kids showed what we all knew was there and
>> had tried to forget.  Kids repeat what they hear at home. And so we all
>> heard via radio or TV that there are some places in our society where the
>> killing of others brings joy and comfort. Even if a minority, it shows us
>> that something has gone wrong.
>>
>> How was it possible? how did we go together to such a situation where
>> there is such madness? Will we ever be able to change this? Can we define
>> the problem, imagine a solution and just press a button to fix it?
>> Obviously, we won’t. This is not the kind of problem that can be fixed. We
>> already tried, and obviously, those killings showed us that we failed.
>>
>>
>>
>> Then on Sunday, in some places on Saturday, marches were organized all
>> around France. Everybody was invited to join.
>>
>> I don't participate often in protest marches because I don’t like big
>> crowds. I am afraid I could be trapped in a sudden moment of violence.
>>
>> But this Sunday, it did not matter. Maybe there was a risk, I feared it
>> and I was scared. But one thing I knew for sure was that I cared. I care
>> for being able to live a peaceful life with everyone around me, no matter
>> if they are white, yellow, black or red, if they believe in Jesus, Mahomet
>> or don’t believe in any kinds of gods, if they speak, act ,fight or keep
>> silent. So because I care, I went to the march. And so did 1 and half
>> million people, including governments leaders from all over the world
>> (including some whom we may question the way they understand the word
>> “freedom” or “peace”), representatives of a diversity of religions,. I saw
>> babies, toddlers, teenagers, as well as old people needing a stick to walk.
>> I saw people from all corners of the society, rich and poor alike.  I had
>> never seen so many people all around the Place de la Bastille. We couldn’t
>> walk to place de la Nation, the final destination of the march, because of
>> the many barriers to protect the government officials. But we
>> self-organized, walking in nearby streets, finding our ways that were no
>> direction or goals but as a way of being present. we walked, not quite
>> silent all the time, singing, or saying poems aloud.
>>
>> The effect on me was incredible : being there and feeling that all of us
>> were there to show respect, solidarity, support was comforting. More than
>> once I had tears in my eyes. Like finding a steady point in our hearts
>> again we could lean on. Maybe we’ll be able to do it, after all, maybe
>> we’ll be able to fix the problem, if so many of us care,  consider
>> ourselves as relevant and affected, there should be hope. There is hope.
>>
>>
>>
>> For me this is exactly the story of open space. We live in a complex
>> world, that is becoming more complex every day, or where we see more and
>> more complexity every day, everything being interconnected, because people
>> write, talk, travel, use the internet. One action here impacts the whole.
>> One drawing, one satirical cartoon impacted the world. This shooting
>> impacted the world. Maybe this peace march impacted the world.
>>
>> We live more and more often in chaos , confusion, conflict.
>>
>> No great man can now save the world, even if deep inside I would love to
>> believe in this kind of magic. The magic in fact is elsewhere : It depends
>> on us all. To invite those who care. And let flow the energy of love. Did
>> anybody tried to organize and control those 1.5 million people in the
>> streets of Paris, a city full of narrow streets? I don’t think so.  Someone
>> who cared made an invitation. Those who had the authority prepared the
>> place: initiated a place of origin, a place of destination, advertised 2
>> roads to follow. It ended up with the place de la Nation, supposed to be
>> the final destination, being full from early morning,  and many many more
>> than 2 roads with people marching. I bet the police just secured the
>> minimum, for the officials, and then self-organization took place, every
>> responsible person doing his job, and surfing chaos. Some shops had closed
>> for security reasons. Restaurants and café re-opened and probably had one
>> of the best turnover of the year. I bet if anyone had tried to organize and
>> control 1,5 million people, they would have failed. Just letting us
>> self-organize  worked perfectly well. And doing so, without even realizing
>> it, we opened the possibility for peace and high performance, because when
>> we care and take responsibility for what we care for,
>>
>> And thus comes peace.
>>
>>
>>
>> During those 3 days you’ll discover or re-discover –for me it’s a
>> discovery every time- a way to experience this, you will experience in your
>> own bodies how it feels when you take responsibility for what you care, in
>> work and in life.
>>
>>
>> -- Christine
>>
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>
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-- 
*Skye Hirst, PhD*
President - The Autognomics Institute
*Conversations in Radical Self-Knowing*
www.autognomics.org
@autognomics
207-593-8074

*"Nature ever flows, stands never still. Motion or change is her mode of
existence."*
*- Ralph Waldo Emerson*
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