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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>Dear Elena,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE><font size=3 color=navy
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>Greetings from
</span></font></span><st1:State><st1:place><span class=GramE><font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'>Alaska</span></font></span></st1:place></st1:State><span
class=GramE><font color=navy><span style='color:navy'> on this
day-after-Christmas.</span></font></span><font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>We might finally
have enough snow for my son to ski and my friends to mush their dogs across the
frozen tundra.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>It has been an unusually
warm winter in </span></font><st1:City><st1:place><font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'>Fairbanks</span></font></st1:place></st1:City><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'> with very little snow.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>Your questions remind me of the questions I
was asking when I first encountered OST.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>At that time, I was still
spending some of my time in the role of mediator.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>In that role, it is proper to ask
questions.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>It isn’t proper to lean or push toward
particular answers, but it IS proper to ask the questions that beg to be asked.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Through the questions she asks, the mediator
weaves her wisdom and intelligence with the wisdom and intelligence of the
group.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>It is a speaking wisdom rather
than a silent wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>Some on this list have indicated that they
sometimes participate in group discussions.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>I have also made that choice.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>For
me, making that choice is all about listening to my inner voice, and following wherever
it leads.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>Our task is not to abide by some external set
of rules, but to follow the internal laws of our heart.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>OST is wonderful and powerful because it so
closely matches who we innately are, but there cannot be a single rigid either-or
rule about speaking and silence.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>Sometimes one is called for, and sometimes the other.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Only our internal knowing can tell us what is
needed in the moment we’re in.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>Much love,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>Julie<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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