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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>As I have listened to this conversation (a very rich one!)
random thoughts came to mind – which may actually fit together? The first
one went something like this. We speak, understandably, about “doing an
Open Space” – but I suspect that may box us into a corner we need
not be stuck in. “Doing and Open Space” implies that we are
following a certain set of prescribed procedures, after all Open Space Technology
is a method. This is true, but it may also hide a larger truth, I think. We don’t
do an Open Space – we are an open space in which we and our fellows find
meaning and purpose, or not. For some of us that space may be very constricted,
and those lives tend to look pretty much the same way – narrow and locked
into set patterns and expectations, which may even become comfortable, like old
shoes. Others seem to occupy a much more commodious space in which change and
possibility are constant companions and experiencing that novelty is a real
high. All of us have the potential to expand our space, or maybe more
accurately, to recognize and acknowledge the larger possibilities which could
be ours. I think what happens in an Open Space event is that we are invited to
consider those possibilities and make them our own, if we so choose. I once
wrote a book, “Expanding our Now” (Berrett-Koehler) which attempted
to make precisely this point. So we might more fruitfully understand that all
of life is open space and an Open Space gathering is simply a moment in
time/space when we are encouraged to go exploring. So it is not so much about “Doing
an Open Space” as about being fully and intentionally present in the
infinity of life space available – at least so far as we are able. Corollary
to this would be that the Open Space event is not something strange, unique and
different – it is just life. All of life is open space. We must choose
whether that space is expansive or constricted for us.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Then I thought of a song I have always enjoyed, “All
of Life’s a Circle,” sung by a favorite whose name has disappeared
in a senior moment. You might think of this as variations on a theme. It is
true that we may square the circle, bisect the circle (semi-circle), even go
around in circles – those are choices which may be quite appropriate
under certain circumstances. But that does not change the fundamental reality
that all of life is a circle. A circle of friends, a circle of peers and
colleagues, a circle of power and influence, a circle of life and death. We may
attempt to reduce life to straight lines (“A career path”), sharp
angles and squared intersections (the standard PERT chart and project
management schema) or even get life in a box, a nice, neat rectilinear box. But
at the end of the day, and indeed on every day, life will go its own way as a
circle, the transformation of circles, the inter-connection and overlapping of
circles, all contained in a larger circle.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Presence is our way of being in the great circle(s) of life.
This may be a grudging presence, a distracted presence, a frantic presence, or
something approaching a full, intentional, appreciative presence in which the
infinite possibilities (good and bad) of life are acknowledged and engaged. To
a certain extent the nature of our presence is a matter of choice, but no
matter the choices made or the constraints encountered there is always the
possibility of an expanded presence in the great open circle of life. I think.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>And Open Space Technology? For me every Open Space gathering
becomes an opportunity to practice our presence, should we choose to do so. On
the surface it will appear that important issues are raised, problems solved,
plans made, organization grown, products designed. All important, and for most
participants probably sufficient to meet expectations, or not. But beneath
(above?) it all I experience a practice of presence – becoming more fully
engaged with our selves, our fellows, and our world. Just living more
intentionally in the great open circle of life. Or something.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Harrison</span></font></st1:place><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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