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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear Harrison, Michael, Chris and Filiz..thank you
for sharing your experiences, choices and thoughts.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I read yr messages and will probably reread
them........many thoughts are fighting in my head now</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>...i want to write something later when i come to a
conclusion.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=mmpanne@boscop.de href="mailto:mmpanne@boscop.de">Pannwitz, Michael
M</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE..EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, August 14, 2005 10:26
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Open Space - a
minimum?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" DEFAULT="FACE"><FONT size=3
DEFAULT="SIZE" POINTSIZE="12">Dear Filiz,<BR>reflecting on my experience in
more than 100 os events I facilitated<BR>I dont recall running into
"indifference, powerlessness or isolation"<BR>but being with people that were
coming from "abundance, action and responsibilty".<BR>(plenty of them pretty
mad, upset, full of stuff they needed to get rid of, ready to fight or to go
into conflict and thirsting for allies to do their stuff).<BR>And that
appeared to be a good basis for getting things going.<BR>With the addition of
me stepping aside and selforganization doing its magic<BR>people did what they
already were capable of.<BR>They are empowered.<BR>Greetings from
Berlin<BR>mmp<BR><BR>--Original Message Text---<BR><B>From:</B> Filiz
Telek<BR><B>Date:</B> Sun, 14 Aug 2005 08:27:40 -0700<BR><BR>as I mentioned at
OSonOS, and as I always say, for me the power of OS is to shift the mindset
from one of 'indifference, powerlessness, isolation' to 'abundance, action,
responsibility'<BR>which is absolutely fundamental for authentic, grassroots,
effective social change <BR><BR>OS is the most powerful empowerment medicine
I've ever seen...:) <BR><BR>filiz<BR><BR><BR><B><I>"Pannwitz, Michael M"
<mmpanne@boscop.de></B></I> wrote:<BR>Dear Funda,<BR>I live in a rich
city: Berlin.<BR>My colleagues and I have facilitated about 300 os-events
since 1996<BR>in this city alone.<BR>The dark sides of this city have in that
same period grown:<BR>unemployment, poverty, homelessness, dismanteling of
social services,<BR>cuts in primary education and health care, disentchantment
with the<BR>political process....along with the widening gap between poor
-<BR>middle income and rich people.<BR>So, whats all this effort led
to?<BR>Heaven knows<BR>and<BR>almost every day I get little signs<BR>someone
approaching me in a bus, on the street, an email, a telephone<BR>call,
<BR>characterized by a smile.<BR>As far as I am concerned, thats pretty much
all I need to keep going.<BR>A few days ago I returned from Karachi,
Pakistan,<BR>somewhere between 14 and 19 million people,<BR>where Yaari and I
lead a training for 26 colleagues from Afghanistan,<BR>Nepal, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka.<BR>There, I saw grand opportunities for open space and talked about
it<BR>to people.<BR>That environment with its many challenges invigorated
me,<BR>especially those thousands of people I saw while going to
the<BR>railroad station, the harbor, the markets, along teeming
streets...<BR>all of them, including the tenacious begging children, rising to
the<BR>really difficult situation making a go of things,<BR>seemingly at a
very high level of "muddling through".<BR>What splendid resources!<BR>And: I
dont need to understand their struggle to facilitate an open<BR>space
technology event.<BR>And: I am certainly not going to help them to get what
they need not<BR>really knowing or being able to understand their
need.<BR>Neither in Berlin or in Karachi.<BR>What I can supply, is assistance
in getting an os-event set up and to<BR>facilitate it (or, in the case of
Karachi, train people to do that)<BR>which will definitely provide the best
known framework for<BR>selforganization including the optimal use of whatever
resources are<BR>available.<BR><BR>While I was in Karachi, I read the "Dawn"
every morning (in fact,<BR>there is hardly a dawn or dusk in Karachi, it seems
to go from light<BR>to dark to light within minutes)<BR>and a story about
"Karachi 2020" caught my eye.<BR>It described in great detail all the stuff a
huge staff of<BR>consultants (foreign) was hired for to "understand" the
problem,<BR>about 20 fields of investigation, half a newspaper page full
(census,<BR>roads, income distribution, migration patterns.....)<BR>with side
remarks about the government scolding the local planners<BR>for not being
competent to develope proper plans.<BR>I read it all and at the very end I
found a note that after the plans<BR>would all be drawn up,<BR>citizens would
be invited to explain the plans to them,<BR>with the possibility to then fine
tune them.<BR><BR>Well, what a neglect of local resources!<BR>What an upside
down procedure, producing another set of eventually<BR>useless data under the
ill fatet belief that this kind of planning<BR>will actually improve
Karachi.<BR>Lots of room for open space, though.<BR>Maybe some of my
colleagues will get busy on those and other areas<BR>there.<BR><BR>Greetings
from Berlin<BR>mmp<BR><BR><BR><BR>On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 13:40:56 +0300, Funda
Oral wrote:<BR><BR>>Dear John and everybody,<BR>><BR>>I live in a
city where one can see extreme cases ( richness and poorness, <BR>>joy and
powerty so on...)<BR>>in a short distance from each
other.<BR>><BR>>One sees so big problems, and so strong struggle for
life<BR>>that sometime the word "open space" looks funny, silly and
luxury.<BR>><BR>>I still believe that "opening space", inviting people
to<BR>>exist, to talk, to express their needs and struggle
is<BR>>"something", a very small step maybe, but still
helpful.<BR>><BR>>But it's not enough, the ultimate aim is to understand
their straggle<BR>>and help them to get what they need...we don't need to
be poor with the <BR>>poor;<BR>>sick with the sick ( as Judi beautifully
mentions)...the least we can do<BR>>is to open space to respect them....
but this is only the minimum.<BR>><BR>>And i am very worried and sad to
see that in many cases all i could<BR>>do would be to open space. I am not
strong or rich enough to end<BR>>struggle.<BR>><BR>>I guess we need
more trembling hearts, more resources and better<BR>>cooperation for
that.<BR>><BR>>Funda<BR>><BR>><BR>>----- Original Message -----
<BR>>From: "john engle" <BR>>To: <BR>>Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005
10:17 PM<BR>>Subject: powerful poem! help me understand
it.<BR>><BR>><BR>>> hi brendan, kairi and
others.<BR>>><BR>>> i've never opened space in a prison but i have
participated in a <BR>>> touchstones discussion (http://touchstones.org)
with about 25 men serving <BR>>> life sentences. the discussion centered
around "power" and not <BR>>> surprisingly, i learned a great
deal.<BR>>><BR>>> great that you are doing this! i look forward to
following developments as <BR>>> you work toward opening space in
prisons.<BR>>><BR>>> on another subject, kairi, thank you for
sharing that poem in your <BR>>> message. i love it! and, i loved being
at OSonOS! Judi, you and your team <BR>>> did a great job at receiving
us and making us feel at home.<BR>>><BR>>> while i love the spirit
of the poem, i just don't know what to do with <BR>>> "banish the word
struggle from your vocabulary." how do others see
this?<BR>>><BR>>> removing the word struggle from MY vocabulary
seems like it could have <BR>>> some positive outcomes. at the same
time, it's hard for me to think of a <BR>>> better word that describes
daily life for so many people. and, not <BR>>> acknowledging this seems
like i might be missing something as i work with <BR>>> folks in
circumstances so much different from my own.<BR>>><BR>>> i'm in
haiti as i write and catching up with friends and colleagues. there
<BR>>> are at least hundreds of thousands of people here--some estimate
in the <BR>>> millions--that don't consume a meal each day. and when
they do, they don't <BR>>> know when they'll eat next. i can't begin to
imagine what living with so <BR>>> much uncertainty and discomfort must
be like. and i've also learned that <BR>>> far too often we who live in
financially prosperous countries romance <BR>>> poverty, saying that
poor people are happier.<BR>>><BR>>> it serves us (people who live
in financially prosperous countries) well to <BR>>> see things this way
and it pains me when i have US American visitors with <BR>>> me in Haiti
and conclude after a week here that the people are "so happy." <BR>>> in
many cultures, those in the southern countries included, it is <BR>>>
appropriate to put one's best face forward especially when meeting
<BR>>> visitors. those same Haitians who looked so happy to the visitor
might be <BR>>> totally stressed out because they're worrying about how
they're going to <BR>>> pay school fees for their kids and get a meal
together, etc. when they <BR>>> speak in their own language to me,
"struggle" projects from their facial <BR>>> expressions, body movement
and words.<BR>>><BR>>> i would not feel comfortable asking folks
who live such realities to <BR>>> remove "struggle" from their
vocabulary.<BR>>><BR>>> thanks for your patience as i vent and
live emotions connected to being <BR>>> with friends in extremely
difficult situations.<BR>>><BR>>>
john<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>> http://JohnEngle.net<BR>>>
email: john@johnengle.net<BR>>> P.O. Box 337<BR>>> Hershey,
Pennsylvania 17033<BR>>> tel.
202-236-6532<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>><BR>>><BR>>>>From:
Brendan McKeague <BR>>>>Reply-To: OSLIST <BR>>>>To:
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR>>>>Subject: Re: There is a river
flowing now very fast<BR>>>>Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 08:26:54
+0800<BR>>>><BR>>>><BR>>>>"Banish the word
'struggle' from your attitude and your vocabulary.<BR>>>>All that we
do now must be done in a sacred manner and in
celebration.<BR>>>>aahhh....thank you so much
Kairi<BR>>>><BR>>>>What a moment to receive this gift - the
start of a brand new <BR>>>>day...beautiful and inspiring...today I
will let go a wee bit more...<BR>>>>I am about to depart for a day's
'space-making' in a maximum security <BR>>>>prison with long-term
offenders..<BR>>>>I will be present and holding space with individual
men - my dream is that <BR>>>>one day there may be more collective
open space within such confinement...<BR>>>>.<BR>>>>Anyone
ever opened space in a prison?<BR>>>><BR>>>>peace to
all<BR>>>>Brendan<BR>>>><BR>>>>*<BR>>>>*<BR>>>>==========================================================<BR>>>>OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR>>>>------------------------------<BR>>>>To
subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,<BR>>>>view the archives
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oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu:<BR>>>>http://listserv.boisestate..edu/archives/oslist.html<BR>>>><BR>>>>To
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FAQs:<BR>>>>http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist<BR>>><BR>>>
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FAQs:<BR>>http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist<BR>><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>Michael
M Pannwitz, boscop eg<BR>Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany<BR>++49-30-772
8000<BR>www.boscop.de www.michaelmpannwitz.de<BR><BR>Check out the new Open
Space World Map now with 309 resident Open Space Workers in 57 countries
(working in a total of 115 countries
worldwide)<BR>www.openspaceworldmap.org<BR><BR>*<BR>*<BR>==========================================================<BR>OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR>------------------------------<BR>To
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color=#7f007f><B><I><FONT face="arial narrow">f i l i
z</B></I><BR><BR><U>www.barakam.blogspot.com</U> <BR><BR><I>"come out of the
circle of time, </I><BR><I>step into the circle of
love"</I><BR><I>Rumi</I><BR><BR><BR><FONT color=#0000ff><U>Start your day with
Yahoo! - make it your home page <FONT color=#7f007f></U>* *
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POINTSIZE="12"><BR><BR><BR><BR>Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg<BR>Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany<BR>++49-30-772 8000<BR>www.boscop.de www.michaelmpannwitz..de<BR><BR>Check out the new Open Space World Map now with 309 resident Open Space Workers in 57 countries (working in a total of 115 countries worldwide)<BR>www.openspaceworldmap.org
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