As is so often the case in Open Space, day two was lots of work, but longer, deeper sort of wave to surf. At least that is my sense of it. The challenge for me? Refining all day my pulsation between facilitation and participation, pulsing too between projects inside and outside of the network. It’s PeaSoup, chunks and flow at once.
The ‘official’ program was ‘scheduled’ to end at 5:30pm with the conclusion of a short ‘evening news’ session, but I think the news went on for an hour more than that… then we ordered pizzas, broke out various video projects for a ‘movie night’. Many of us ended up sitting around our main meeting room until after midnight, making plans for one of our teams to visit and support Theresa Williamson’s Catalytic Communities in Rio de Janeiro.
Theresa and I will convene a session tomorrow to explore ways that her work in squatter communities down south and my work on the Small Change News blogging center might mutually support each other. A number of other intriguing connections and conversations opened today, as well.
Most powerful thing I heard today? A quote from David Boorstin (sp?) who said something to the effect that every social entrepreneur, anyone who really is living and working at the leading edge of change, must necessarily absorb a tremendous amount of failure, testing always, as we do, the limits of what is possible now. I would add that if we are lucky, we also absorb a good share of love, joy and power. The practice seems all about expanding heart to pump more and more of these latter three back out into the world.