soul space

i’m told, by a friend who lives here, that this is a place where one can reconnect with one’s soul, a monastery somewhere in germany. i can’t say more because the absence of many people there is one of its charms.

sometimes it’s enough just to remember that such places exist… as a big truck idles on the street below my window and a big shovel keeps dropping large, loud chunks of concrete into it. a magic truck, apparently, that never fills up, as every drop seems to crash and echo into its biggest loudest emptiness. (grin)

the world in open space

From Shay McInerney, a participant in last year’s OST Practice Workshop in Ireland, in response to an OSLIST question about getting ‘professional developmnet’ training in OpenSpaceTech:

The beauty of Open Space is that there is no professional body. It is, by it’s very nature, a sharing of ideas, concepts and experience among those who have a passion for opening space within which dialogue is invited. There are training events given by people from time to time. I’m not even sure if it is possible to “teach” it as such. Very much “suck it and see”, I’m afraid. If you keep an eye on this OSLIST for a few days or check out the archives you’ll get the idea.
From Harrison Owen in Maryland, responding to a comment about the ease and relief experienced as OpenSpaceTech seeps into our everyday work…
If it is true that life is all about self-organization, as is Open Space, when you remember what you already are, it feels great. Certainly much better than pretending to be something you are not???? Of course, it doesn’t always feel great. Sometimes the great hooded monsters of Chaos, Confusion, and Conflict rear their ugly heads, and things can get downright unpleasant, made even more so if we take it as a personal insult because they are not following our plan.
And Brendan McKeague, host of last year’s OST Practice Workshop in Perth, Australia, reporting on an NGO summit in Thailand… this from one of his participants there:
“I got my money’s worth in the first hour” said a Senior Vice President who had attended from California. “What would have taken me months to achieve through other normal channels we have taken care of here in the first conversation – everything else was a bonus for me. My group started with four people and ended up with fourteen – we got our issues identified, policies worked out and plans into place – we only need a few minor refinements and we’re done. All the right people were here to do the job. I am so amazed especially when I think of all the rounds of emails and telconferencing this has saved.”
These are the sorts of bits that help me remember that the World is working and that, while there is much yet to be worked out, there are many many of us now doing the working — and it IS getting easier.

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