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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Ashley – Unfortunately I am not at
OSONOS (wish I were) and I like what you wrote. Your thoughts and musings are
all to the point, but I am not sure that rephrasing the principle will get you
where you want to go. I grant you that the words could have been more eloquent,
to say nothing of grammatical, but that is just sort of how they happened. You
know – “Whatever happened. . .” But the real point, so far as
I am concerned, is that this principle (as indeed all of them) is descriptive,
not prescriptive. There is no “should” present or implied –
just an observation of present reality. At least that is the way it seemed at
the time. Where one goes from there is an open question, and a rich one. Hopes
and expectations are great, and searching for alternative possibilities is
obviously a key element of our adaptive behavior which lies at the root of our
continuing evolution as a person and as a people. But unless all that starts
from a clear point of grounding in the present moment, it seems to me that we
can quickly lose our way. It is also true that were we to become so infatuated
with what “might” take place; we may well miss the opportune
richness of the moment. So for me it is all about a starting place, an
invitation to be present. It is also an invitation to go deeper into this
present moment. For me that has always been the jump off place for truly
amazing journeys. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Harrison</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<div>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Harrison Owen</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>7808 River Falls Drive</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Potomac,
Maryland 20854</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Phone </span></font><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:red'>301-365-2093</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Skype hhowen</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Open Space Training</span></font><font
color=red><span style='color:red'> <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/"><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>www.openspaceworld.com</span></font></a>
</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Open Space Institute</span></font><font
color=red><span style='color:red'> <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/"><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>www.openspaceworld.org</span></font></a></span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Personal website</span></font><font
color=red><span style='color:red'> <a href="http://www.ho-image.com/"><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>www.ho-image.com</span></font></a> </span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>OSLIST</span></font><font
color=red face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:red'>: To subscribe,
unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: </span></font><font
color=red><span style='color:red'><a
href="http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html"><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial'>www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html</span></font></a></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----Original Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b> OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On
Behalf Of </span></b>ashley cooper<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Thursday, July 24, 2008
12:29 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Whatever happens....</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Hello friends around the world,<br>
<br>
Feeling those gathered in San Francisco, swimming in the hearty open space
soup, I find a myself pondering a topic I would host if I were there... a topic
I'd love to have a conversation around. <br>
<br>
I'm curious about the wording of the principle, "what ever happens is the
only thing that could have". I know John Engle brought this question up in
the past <a
href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/news/2007/05/11/whatever-happens/"
target="_blank">http://www.openspaceworld.org/news/2007/05/11/whatever-happens/</a>
and I'm still curious about it.<br>
<br>
I find that people sometimes use it as a block to reflection, a reason to not
look back and learn from what didn't happen because "whatever happens is
the only thing that could have." Yes, and... <br>
<br>
I love the principle for the acceptance that it invites. And I struggle with it
because there is a sense of finality that it also invites (if you want to let
yourself go there). We did what we did and that's, that. Which is true...
And...<br>
<br>
I appreciate how in Haiti they are playing with <em><i><font
face="Times New Roman">What Happens is what happens - learn and move forward. </font></i></em>I
like the learn and keep moving part.<br>
<i><span style='font-style:italic'><br>
</span></i>Are there other ways that people phrase this principle? How do you
invite the spirit of acceptance and invitations to be with what is alive and
happening in the moment, while also inviting reflection and learning from what
has and has not emerged?<br>
<i><span style='font-style:italic'><br>
</span></i>If anyone at WOSonOS is reading this and you find this conversation
springing up in your face to face time, please do share your harvest with us.
I'm contemplating posting a skype session tomorrow morning on this topic... and
I've not yet been able to commit myself to being inside at the computer
tomorrow morning!!<br>
<br>
Alive and grateful,<br>
Ashley</span></font></p>
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