<font color="#000099"><font face="verdana,sans-serif">Dear HO and Harold and all,</font></font><div><font color="#000099"><font face="verdana,sans-serif"><br></font></font></div><div><font color="#000099"><font face="verdana,sans-serif">Oh, yes. </font></font></div>
<div><font color="#000099"><font face="verdana,sans-serif"><br></font></font></div><div><font color="#000099"><font face="verdana,sans-serif">This vividly reminds me of the first real Open Space I ever came to: the Practice of Peace at the Whidbey Institute in 2003. Tova Averbuch and Chris Corrigan offered a session called Grief as an Act of Peacemaking; Grief in the Facilitator. I recall Tova speaking at the end about a light net (bright, and also not heavy) (of relationships and connections) that holds and supports us in as we go through the grief process.</font></font></div>
<div><font color="#000099"><font face="verdana,sans-serif">(here are the notes for that session: </font></font><font><font color="#003300" face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://pop.bigmindcatalyst.com/cgi/bmc.pl?node=5541&range=first">http://pop.bigmindcatalyst.com/cgi/bmc.pl?node=5541&range=first</a>)</font></font></div>
<div><font><font face="verdana, sans-serif" color="#000099">(and here's the conference site in general: </font></font><font color="#000099" face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="http://pop.bigmindcatalyst.com/cgi/bmc.pl?node=1">http://pop.bigmindcatalyst.com/cgi/bmc.pl?node=1</a>)</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><font><span style="color:rgb(0,0,153);font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Our time together during those few days seemed to me to be especially intense, and maybe that happened p</span><font face="verdana, sans-serif" color="#000099">artly because it brought together so many people who were living in and opening space in places of high conflict. Many sessions touched on and explored great sorrow and pain and seemingly unbridgeable differences; others unfolded into profound sweetness, connection, humor, joy; and (of course!) a lot of them contained all of the above.</font></font></div>
<div><font><font face="verdana, sans-serif" color="#000099"><br></font></font></div><div><font><font face="verdana, sans-serif" color="#000099">Harrison, you write "</font></font>To the extent that OST is self-organization at work, it is equally and also Grief Work at work." <font color="#000099" face="verdana, sans-serif">and I experience that as true. And I also experience it as Joy Work and Anger Work and Fear Work and Gratitude Work and etc, etc - all the deep emotions, as Harold pointed out. When the space is open and held, then we all get to have our whole full experiences of whatever it is, whenever it is, wherever it is. In particular, the griefwork scours us and tenderizes us, and somehow helps us to bear the poignancy of being alive. Or Something Like That. ;-)</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099" face="verdana, sans-serif">And, oh, a tiny bit early </font><font face="verdana, sans-serif" size="4"><b><font color="#ff0000">Happy Birthday, Harrison!</font></b></font></div>
<div><font color="#000099" face="verdana, sans-serif">(somehow I think you will appreciate the surprise harmony of sending happy birthday blessings attached to this particular topic!) </font></div><div><font color="#000099" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div><div><font color="#000099" face="verdana, sans-serif">thanks and love, Christy</font></div><div><font><font color="#003300" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br clear="all"></font></font><font style="color:rgb(0,51,0)" face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif" color="#000066"><span style="font-family:arial"><font face="'times new roman', serif"><font>Christy Lee-Engel, ND, LAc<br>
</font><font></font></font><div><font face="'times new roman', serif">Director, Bastyr University <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BastyrSpiritualityScienceMedicine" target="_blank">Center for Spirituality, Science, and Medicine</a></font><br>
<div><span style="font-family:'times new roman',serif">Acupuncture and Naturopathic Medicine practice: </span><a href="http://corechiropracticseattle.com/" target="_blank" style="font-family:'times new roman',serif">Core Chiropractic and Wellness</a></div>
<div><font face="'times new roman', serif">clinic: 206.708.7172<br>cell: 206.399.0868</font></div></div></span></font><div><div><div><span style="border-collapse:collapse"><font><i><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(0,51,0)">
<font face="Palatino, serif"><i><i><i><i><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Palatino,serif"><br><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:small;font-style:normal"></span></span></i></i></i></i></font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt">
<i><font face="'times new roman', serif" color="#cc33cc">"Throw yourself completely into the aliveness of your life. It's pretty risky. You could lose yourself. There's nothing to hold onto."</font><font face="arial, sans-serif" color="#222222"> </font></i><span><font face="'times new roman', serif" color="#cc33cc">- Yun-men</font></span></p>
</i></font></span></div></div></div>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Nov 24, 2012 at 8:44 AM, Harrison Owen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:hhowen@verizon.net" target="_blank">hhowen@verizon.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div><p class="MsoNormal">Harold – the best part of your message came at the end, and for me it was the most important therefore deserving its own special note… Something about the “Joys of Grief.”<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Harold said: “As you said in Wave Rider, OST has a deep connection to the grieving process that Elisabeth Kübler-Ross described as a part of facing death. Which for me is fascinating given how much joy I always experience - but it is almost always accompanied other deep emotions as well.”<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">You have put your finger on an important point, which may seem paradoxical or even contradictory, but really is neither. The truth is, grieving (or more properly The Grief Work Process) is fundamentally joyful, even triumphant, at least that is the intent which is realized only when the process comes to completion. Simply put, it is the way we as human beings move from loss to renewal, from ending to new beginning, from the encounter with death to the experience of new life. Of course, if the process is aborted along the way, the final results are inevitably dismal and painful. <u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Obviously what I have said above can be viewed a total nonsense, or worse, but stick with me, and I think I can get you there… But first something about the connection to Open Space. It will come as no surprise that I find Open Space to be nothing more than self organization at work. In a word, Open Space works because self organization works. And, self organization is itself a process.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">The process of self organization can be described in infinite, complex detail, but reduced to essentials, the steps are as follows: Order, Chaos, New and more complex order. It goes like this. Once upon a time there was this organization, a fine human system that lived a comfortable productive life. All seemed right with the world, but one day that world changed, and what was once a comfortable fit became increasingly challenging. The poor organization did all that it could, going this way and that -- seeking a path. But to no avail – and comfortable order dissolved into PAINFUL chaos. But there is, or at least there can be a next chapter. Through the alchemy of self organization new and more complex order appears, and life goes on. But the question abides. How do we get from here to there? How do we deal with the pain? The answer, I think, is the Grief Work Process.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Elisabeth Kübler-Ross made history when she identified and described the essential steps we all go through in the face of Death, our own or that of another. In my work it became clear that groups of people (organizations) go through exactly the same process when faced with ending. And that ending can come in all sorts of flavors: the end of a project, the end of a way of life, the ending of a company – but the response is identical in all situations. At the moment of ending, which I have characterized as an “Oh Shit Moment,” there is Shock and Anger. This is followed by Denial, then Memories (Stories of how it used to be), Despair – the bitter/sweet instant of letting it all go. Then we come to Open Space, intense silence with nothing there and everything potential. The process comes to an end when two magic words are spoken, “I wonder if…” I wonder if I/we can build a new company, find a new career, meet a new life partner. When wonder and imagination come together, there you have Vision, and the cycle is complete.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Obviously I have covered a lot of territory with very few details. If you want more check out my book “Wave Rider.” But hopefully I have said enough so that at the least you get the function and flavor of Grief Work. To be sure, it begins at a very painful moment, but the end of the story is all about joy. Functionally, Griefwork is the means by which we as human beings navigate the painful parts of self-organization. Things end, and that is always painful. But when they re-organize (self-organize) life goes on, and Griefwork gets us there. I find it to be hardwired into our humanity. We don’t have to think about it at all – works all by itself. Each step is necessary, and none can be skipped, no matter how much we might like to move directly from ending to new beginning.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Another way of looking at Grief Work – It is what human self-organizing systems do as a major part of the adaptive process. And here is the connection to Open Space Technology: To the extent that OST is self-organization at work, it is equally and also Grief Work at work. Knowing this, and being acutely sensitive to what is going on, can be extraordinarily helpful to our understanding of what is happening with our clients, and what they may be doing/saying/manifesting during the time in Open Space. <u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">A related factor is that Griefwork, like all other aspects of self organization, function best when there is sufficient time/space (open space) to move around in. Things shut down when arbitrary control is imposed – and that is sadly what happens often in the everyday world of organizations. Most obviously, nobody wants to talk about dying/ending. And those who do are often viewed as strange, weird, pessimists, or macabre. Definitely a no-no! And when there is such conversation it can only be entered into under controlled circumstance – quietly and in moderation. Is it any wonder then that when space is suddenly opened, the unspeakable is spoken? That Open Space is so often experienced as an amazing passage from controlled silence to serious Joy?<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Thank you Harold for surfacing a critical element in our “practice.” As we move along from beginnings, to middles … and ask ourselves about What Nexts? – I would believe that we have the details of the process (OST) down pretty well, AND I know there are vast areas to explore and understand.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Harrison<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br><br><u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Harrison Owen<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">7808 River Falls Dr.<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Potomac, MD 20854<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">USA<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Camden, Maine 20854<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Phone <a href="tel:301-365-2093" value="+13013652093" target="_blank">301-365-2093</a><u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">(summer) <a href="tel:207-763-3261" value="+12077633261" target="_blank">207-763-3261</a><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com%20" target="_blank">www.openspaceworld.com</a> <u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.ho-image.com%20" target="_blank">www.ho-image.com</a> (Personal Website)<u></u><u></u></p>
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