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<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>Dear Raffi,</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>Hold that yawn, my friend.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia><FONT color=#000080 size=2>I don't know about FIV, and I
don't use the word <EM>professional</EM>. But from a village
perspective, dependency is a beautiful thing.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia><FONT color=#000080 size=2>I may plant my garden, but I am
not a farmer. And I know someone who is. I celebrate my dependence
on how she cultivates her knowledge (and I enjoy it at my
table).</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia><FONT color=#000080 size=2>I may repair a wall with mud
and straw, but I am not a builder. And I know someone who is. I
celebrate my dependence on how she cultivates her knowledge. And I awaken
every morning looking up at her beams in the pre-dawn light.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia><FONT color=#000080 size=2>I may pray for my son to
recover from his illness and I may brew the tea that helps, but I am not a
healer. I know someone who is. I celebrate my dependence on how he
cultivates his knowledge. When my son runs across the field restored to
wholeness, I leave gifts on his doorstep.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>I may communicate with the Ancestors
and the Guides, but I am not a shaman. And I know someone who is. I
celebrate my dependence on how she cultivates her knowledge. When the
whole village makes a swift turning to a new path following her
understanding of one orphaned twelve-year-old's dream, I give thanks for her
ways which I trust but do not understand.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>I may make a pinch pot, but I am not
a potter. I know someone who is. I celebrate my dependence on how
she cultivates her knowledge. And I carry water from the spring house to
my kitchen in her pots, and I dip in the dipper and I drink.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>I may tell a story on a winter night,
but I am not a storyteller. I know someone who is. I celebrate my
dependence on how he cultivates his knowledge. I watch how the words enter
the children's ears, alight in their hearts, and rise like sparks from that fire
to shine in their eyes, which now have a glimpse of the whole ancient
tree.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>I may play a drum, but I am not a
drummer. I know someone who is. I celebrate my dependence on how he
cultivates his knowledge. Upon the callouses of his hands, for two days
and nights straight, I make the journey through the heart of grief to the beach
on the other side where the spring rain is falling softly on the new
grass.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>And so there are some people too who
are called space-holders. I was born to be one, if not by birth than by
birth-through-initiation. And so I pay attention and I cultivate my
knowledge. I enjoy sharing and I enjoy watching the others stepping into
the circle. And when those moments come when I am called upon, I do not
doubt that it matters or that I am the right one. By my own choice
each day and each moment, I am ready.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>~Chris</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Georgia><FONT size=2><FONT
color=#800000><FONT> </P></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: OSLIST [<A
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>]On
Behalf Of Raffi<BR>Aftandelian<BR>Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 4:41 PM<BR>To:
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR>Subject: Re: my second space in
istanbul<BR><BR><BR>There is one great way to not have to answer questions:
leave.<BR><BR>I would submit that professional space-holding is emergent
dependency,<BR>ultimately a delayed onset risk behavior for contracting FIV
(flatland<BR>immunodeficiency virus).<BR><BR>I am glad that this has been said
on the list already, that really<BR>groups do not really need the space-holder
either. But most<BR>organizations are not their yet, I imagine.<BR><BR>So for
now, space-holding as a facilitation practice has to pass as<BR>something new,
cutting-edge. Yawn. Oh well. Somebody has to do the dirty<BR>work.<BR><BR>In
synchro-density,<BR>raffi<BR><BR>*<BR>*<BR>==========================================================<BR>OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR>------------------------------<BR>To
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