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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-AU>Hello
</SPAN><?xml:namespace prefix = st2 ns = "urn:schemas:contacts"
/><st2:GivenName><SPAN lang=EN-AU>Chris</SPAN></st2:GivenName><SPAN
lang=EN-AU>,</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-AU><?xml:namespace
prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-AU>I have been
reading the thread that ended (so far) with your response to Raffi who I had the
privilege to meet at </SPAN><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place><SPAN
lang=EN-AU>Goa</SPAN></st1:place><SPAN lang=EN-AU> in ’04.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-AU><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-AU>Like so many of
us I am a space-holder through birth by initiation who, for reasons that don’t
matter in this moment, has chosen not to formally open space for some nine
months.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I am planning to return to
the work in August and I have been reflecting in those rare quiet moments what
it really means to me to be a space holder and how, once again, I would like the
people who come, to see and think of the experience I offer.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And I know that it has all of this has
been discussed before on this list and in many other places.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-AU><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-AU>Your words
resonated in all of me as is they had formed themselves into a singing
bowl.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I find myself reading them
over and over again to remind myself what I intuitively know.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>That being able to fill the role of
spaceholder is indeed a privilege and it is to be entered into with
thoughtfulness and grace.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>If I
don’t do that then the space that I am called to keep open will collapse in on
itself.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Perhaps it is just because
of that, that spaceholding is such joyful work and why it is so successful
around the world.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-AU><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-AU>Thank you once
again for your insightful words.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-AU></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-AU><SPAN
class=799281909-02062006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Aart</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-AU></SPAN> </P><SPAN lang=EN-AU>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P align=left><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Aart
Groothuis<BR></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT
size=1>dialogue architect and open space
facilitator</FONT><BR></SPAN><B><SPAN><FONT face="Arial Black"
color=#0000ff><EM>telling the story<BR></EM></FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR>PO Box 3266 | Manuka ACT 2603 |
AUSTRALIA<BR>m: 0419 42 68 80<BR></SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2>i: </FONT><A
href="mailto:aart.groothuis@tellingthestory.net "><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">aart.groothuis@tellingthestory.net </SPAN></A><FONT
face=Arial size=2>| </FONT><A href="http://www.tellingthestory.net/"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>www.tellingthestory.net</FONT></A></P>
<P><o:p><FONT face=Arial size=2>. . . working with teams to regain focus and
momentum . . .</FONT> </o:p></P></DIV></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Chris
Weaver<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, 2 June 2006 13:01<BR><B>To:</B>
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: my second space in
istanbul<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<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
size=+0> </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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