My first Open Space Facilitation
I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU, to everyone who helped and supported and adviced me in enabling me to do my first facilitation of Open Space, for 64 Million Artists and Hull Libraries.
I've been asking for all sorts of advice over the last few months and weeks, like "can facilitators call sessions"? "How, when, where can I incorporate a drum circle"?...etc.
It was such an intense period of reflection and deep thought, of trying to figure out so much.
In hindsight, I now know that there were so many unknown unknowns, and the best way to know is to just do it, get some of it wrong and learn.
A few days prior to the event, which happened yesterday, I had the audio recording of Harrison Owen and video of Chris Corrigan opening space, playing in my headphones on repeat, over and over.
When it came to the event I had moments where my mind went blank. I felt I made so many mistakes, but the feedback I got was that it went very well.
The (optional) drum circle went really well. It echoed the "whoever comes are the right people", and it felt right as a way to celebrate together after the closing circle.
So much learned, so much more to learn and, so grateful to have this wonderful group of people to help, support and advice.
Thank you all, so much.
Isaac
Way to go Isaac. Keep opening space. And as Harrison would almost certainly tell you, keep telling the story.
Chris.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 24, 2025, at 5:11 PM, isaac a via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU, to everyone who helped and supported and adviced me in enabling me to do my first facilitation of Open Space, for 64 Million Artists and Hull Libraries.
I've been asking for all sorts of advice over the last few months and weeks, like "can facilitators call sessions"? "How, when, where can I incorporate a drum circle"?...etc.
It was such an intense period of reflection and deep thought, of trying to figure out so much.
In hindsight, I now know that there were so many unknown unknowns, and the best way to know is to just do it, get some of it wrong and learn.
A few days prior to the event, which happened yesterday, I had the audio recording of Harrison Owen and video of Chris Corrigan opening space, playing in my headphones on repeat, over and over.
When it came to the event I had moments where my mind went blank. I felt I made so many mistakes, but the feedback I got was that it went very well.
The (optional) drum circle went really well. It echoed the "whoever comes are the right people", and it felt right as a way to celebrate together after the closing circle.
So much learned, so much more to learn and, so grateful to have this wonderful group of people to help, support and advice.
Thank you all, so much.
Isaac
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
Dear Isaac,
practice is one of the best teachers.
Back in 1996 I started my os-practice at age 56
after an open space "training" lead by Romy Shovelton
and Harrison Owen in Roffey Park in the UK.
In that year I facilitated 10 events, all wonderful.
And I did read the entire User's Guide before each of the events,
discovering more and more details after each read.
I did follow the admonition by Harrison:
"Start doing it by the book!"
Slowly, I found my own practice style.
Many years later in 2010 after 200 events I and Georg Bischoff published
a german version
"Meine open space Praxis".
Have a look at the ebook:
or the print version
Keep on practicing.
Have other os-apprentices at each event and reflect during and
after each event.
Organize a yearly analog Learning Exchange in the the 3-day os-format in
your region.
Show yourself in the Open Space World Map
And keep asking.
Now, at age 85 I enjoy the ongoing journey I see around me.
Have a great weekend.
Greetings from Berlin
mmp
Am 25.01.2025 um 02:10 schrieb isaac a via OSList:
I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU, to everyone who helped and
supported and adviced me in enabling me to do my first facilitation of
Open Space, for 64 Million Artists and Hull Libraries.
I've been asking for all sorts of advice over the last few months and
weeks, like "can facilitators call sessions"? "How, when, where can I
incorporate a drum circle"?...etc.
It was such an intense period of reflection and deep thought, of
trying to figure out so much.
In hindsight, I now know that there were so many unknown unknowns, and
the best way to know is to just do it, get some of it wrong and learn.
A few days prior to the event, which happened yesterday, I had the
audio recording of Harrison Owen and video of Chris Corrigan opening
space, playing in my headphones on repeat, over and over.
When it came to the event I had moments where my mind went blank. I
felt I made so many mistakes, but the feedback I got was that it went
very well.
The (optional) drum circle went really well. It echoed the "whoever
comes are the right people", and it felt right as a way to celebrate
together after the closing circle.
So much learned, so much more to learn and, so grateful to have this
wonderful group of people to help, support and advice.
Thank you all, so much.
Isaac
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
Michael M Pannwitz
Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
+49 30 7728000 mmpannwitz@posteo.de
See the Open Space World Map with 535
Open Space Workers living in 81 countries
and active in 145 countries worldwide:
www.openspaceworldmap.org
❤️❤️❤️
Jon Harvey
activist | adviser | author
ambition | imagination | transformation | magic
01280 812711
he/his
On Sat, 25 Jan 2025, 01:11 isaac a via OSList, everyone@oslist.org wrote:
I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU, to everyone who helped and supported
and adviced me in enabling me to do my first facilitation of Open Space,
for 64 Million Artists and Hull Libraries.
I've been asking for all sorts of advice over the last few months and
weeks, like "can facilitators call sessions"? "How, when, where can I
incorporate a drum circle"?...etc.
It was such an intense period of reflection and deep thought, of trying to
figure out so much.
In hindsight, I now know that there were so many unknown unknowns, and the
best way to know is to just do it, get some of it wrong and learn.
A few days prior to the event, which happened yesterday, I had the audio
recording of Harrison Owen and video of Chris Corrigan opening space,
playing in my headphones on repeat, over and over.
When it came to the event I had moments where my mind went blank. I felt I
made so many mistakes, but the feedback I got was that it went very well.
The (optional) drum circle went really well. It echoed the "whoever comes
are the right people", and it felt right as a way to celebrate together
after the closing circle.
So much learned, so much more to learn and, so grateful to have this
wonderful group of people to help, support and advice.
Thank you all, so much.
Isaac
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
Congratulations Isaac!
Many thanks for sharing your story. You never know who or what you will inspire.
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.com
Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com
Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity https://peggyholman.com/papers/engaging-emergence/
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger
On Jan 24, 2025, at 6:35 PM, Chris Corrigan via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Way to go Isaac. Keep opening space. And as Harrison would almost certainly tell you, keep telling the story.
Chris.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 24, 2025, at 5:11 PM, isaac a via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU, to everyone who helped and supported and adviced me in enabling me to do my first facilitation of Open Space, for 64 Million Artists and Hull Libraries.
I've been asking for all sorts of advice over the last few months and weeks, like "can facilitators call sessions"? "How, when, where can I incorporate a drum circle"?...etc.
It was such an intense period of reflection and deep thought, of trying to figure out so much.
In hindsight, I now know that there were so many unknown unknowns, and the best way to know is to just do it, get some of it wrong and learn.
A few days prior to the event, which happened yesterday, I had the audio recording of Harrison Owen and video of Chris Corrigan opening space, playing in my headphones on repeat, over and over.
When it came to the event I had moments where my mind went blank. I felt I made so many mistakes, but the feedback I got was that it went very well.
The (optional) drum circle went really well. It echoed the "whoever comes are the right people", and it felt right as a way to celebrate together after the closing circle.
So much learned, so much more to learn and, so grateful to have this wonderful group of people to help, support and advice.
Thank you all, so much.
Isaac
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
This might be fairly trivial or it might be deeply profound.
I've been reflecting on my first facilitation of Open Space last Friday, and it's entered into my dreams.
In the dream and experienced OS facilitator was correcting mistakes and I was getting very impatient because attendees were about to arrive.
I was scared they were going to unravel everything, including the main question.
The main question was "How can curiosity and creativity inspire and develop new ideas, and meaningful connections and collaborations"?
Although I was freaking out, there was one thing I found fascinating. He deconstructed the sentence by picking out the words 'curiosity', 'creativity', 'connections' and 'collaborations' (and maybe one or two others, 'ideas', maybe...) and reconstructed a number of alternative questions by rearranging the words and offering synonyms...etc. Deconstruction and organised reconstruction. It was beautiful, although I was really stressed out waiting for people to arrive. It wasn't so much about starting on time, it just felt like all my efforts would be pulled apart, minutes before the event started
So, my questions are:
- Being vaguely aware of the 'magical' and 'spiritual' aspects of OS, does this resonate? Are there any articles I could read, or talks I could listen to about the more 'spiritual' aspects of OS, particularly dreams and dreaming.
- Deconstruction and reconstruction of words to craft questions. Does that also resonate?
... and, in writing it out, I've just realised what the dream was about. Minutes before the event started, one of the janitors at the library bullishly approached me about something he completely misunderstood, and I felt like he was going to derail the event. It was actually quite upsetting. Despite the (now apparent) obvious source of the dream, I think there was an alchemy in turning that upset into something more constructive, albeit frustrating.
Still, OS, dreams, spirituality...etc. and sentence construction, any thoughts anyone?
Best wishes!
Isaac 🙏🏿❤️
From: Peggy Holman via OSList everyone@oslist.org
Sent: 25 January 2025 19:08
To: Open Space Listserv everyone@oslist.org
Subject: [OSList] Re: My first Open Space Facilitation
Congratulations Isaac!
Many thanks for sharing your story. You never know who or what you will inspire.
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.com
Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com
Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunityhttps://peggyholman.com/papers/engaging-emergence/
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger
On Jan 24, 2025, at 6:35 PM, Chris Corrigan via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Way to go Isaac. Keep opening space. And as Harrison would almost certainly tell you, keep telling the story.
Chris.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 24, 2025, at 5:11 PM, isaac a via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU, to everyone who helped and supported and adviced me in enabling me to do my first facilitation of Open Space, for 64 Million Artists and Hull Libraries.
I've been asking for all sorts of advice over the last few months and weeks, like "can facilitators call sessions"? "How, when, where can I incorporate a drum circle"?...etc.
It was such an intense period of reflection and deep thought, of trying to figure out so much.
In hindsight, I now know that there were so many unknown unknowns, and the best way to know is to just do it, get some of it wrong and learn.
A few days prior to the event, which happened yesterday, I had the audio recording of Harrison Owen and video of Chris Corrigan opening space, playing in my headphones on repeat, over and over.
When it came to the event I had moments where my mind went blank. I felt I made so many mistakes, but the feedback I got was that it went very well.
The (optional) drum circle went really well. It echoed the "whoever comes are the right people", and it felt right as a way to celebrate together after the closing circle.
So much learned, so much more to learn and, so grateful to have this wonderful group of people to help, support and advice.
Thank you all, so much.
Isaac
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
Hi Isaac.
I had a dream before an OST event that I facilitated. The event was in a
ski resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains, so the air was crisp and there
was fresh snow that morning.
The dream was of my grandmother Rose I had never met. She was gently
leading me along a path in the Carpathian mountains near the shtetl where
she lived. It was a quick dream, but very moving.
I wrote a poem on the oslist (for one of our biannual poetry celebrations
back then) that I can't find right now. The essence was that I repeated her
words in the dream as I walked the opening circle: "Come, have some soup,
tell me your story!" That spirit/soul gesture of welcome and care is the
essence of opening space for me.
Harrison once called the opening walk "the shaman's walk". I resonate with
this, honoring the depths of life and experience that are invited to come
forward and make contributions to the space. (We can talk about the term
but that's another conversation.)
The Fourfold Way-finding that Angeles Arrien brought to Open Space is
another expression of these depths.
The following year I walked in the snowy Carpathians on a brief visit to my
grandparents' birthplaces and my great grandmother's grave site, to
complete that circle in my own life. That dream was also with me on that
morning.
Thanks for your posts Isaac!
Warmly
Jeff
On Sun, Jan 26, 2025, 3:07 AM isaac a via OSList everyone@oslist.org
wrote:
This might be fairly trivial or it might be deeply profound.
I've been reflecting on my first facilitation of Open Space last Friday,
and it's entered into my dreams.
In the dream and experienced OS facilitator was correcting mistakes and I
was getting very impatient because attendees were about to arrive.
I was scared they were going to unravel everything, including the main
question.
The main question was "How can curiosity and creativity inspire and
develop new ideas, and meaningful connections and collaborations"?
Although I was freaking out, there was one thing I found fascinating. He
deconstructed the sentence by picking out the words 'curiosity',
'creativity', 'connections' and 'collaborations' (and maybe one or two
others, 'ideas', maybe...) and reconstructed a number of alternative
questions by rearranging the words and offering synonyms...etc.
Deconstruction and organised reconstruction. It was beautiful, although I
was really stressed out waiting for people to arrive. It wasn't so much
about starting on time, it just felt like all my efforts would be pulled
apart, minutes before the event started
So, my questions are:
- Being vaguely aware of the 'magical' and 'spiritual' aspects of OS,
does this resonate? Are there any articles I could read, or talks I could
listen to about the more 'spiritual' aspects of OS, particularly dreams and
dreaming. - Deconstruction and reconstruction of words to craft questions. Does
that also resonate?
... and, in writing it out, I've just realised what the dream was about.
Minutes before the event started, one of the janitors at the library
bullishly approached me about something he completely misunderstood, and I
felt like he was going to derail the event. It was actually quite
upsetting. Despite the (now apparent) obvious source of the dream, I think
there was an alchemy in turning that upset into something more
constructive, albeit frustrating.
Still, OS, dreams, spirituality...etc. and sentence construction, any
thoughts anyone?
Best wishes!
Isaac 🙏🏿❤️
From: Peggy Holman via OSList everyone@oslist.org
Sent: 25 January 2025 19:08
To: Open Space Listserv everyone@oslist.org
Subject: [OSList] Re: My first Open Space Facilitation
Congratulations Isaac!
Many thanks for sharing your story. You never know who or what you will
inspire.
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.com
Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com
Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval
into Opportunity https://peggyholman.com/papers/engaging-emergence/
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get
burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger
On Jan 24, 2025, at 6:35 PM, Chris Corrigan via OSList <
everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Way to go Isaac. Keep opening space. And as Harrison would almost
certainly tell you, keep telling the story.
Chris.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 24, 2025, at 5:11 PM, isaac a via OSList everyone@oslist.org
wrote:
I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU, to everyone who helped and supported
and adviced me in enabling me to do my first facilitation of Open Space,
for 64 Million Artists and Hull Libraries.
I've been asking for all sorts of advice over the last few months and
weeks, like "can facilitators call sessions"? "How, when, where can I
incorporate a drum circle"?...etc.
It was such an intense period of reflection and deep thought, of trying to
figure out so much.
In hindsight, I now know that there were so many unknown unknowns, and the
best way to know is to just do it, get some of it wrong and learn.
A few days prior to the event, which happened yesterday, I had the audio
recording of Harrison Owen and video of Chris Corrigan opening space,
playing in my headphones on repeat, over and over.
When it came to the event I had moments where my mind went blank. I felt I
made so many mistakes, but the feedback I got was that it went very well.
The (optional) drum circle went really well. It echoed the "whoever comes
are the right people", and it felt right as a way to celebrate together
after the closing circle.
So much learned, so much more to learn and, so grateful to have this
wonderful group of people to help, support and advice.
Thank you all, so much.
Isaac
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful story Jeff.
I wonder if there's something about the relative freedom felt in OS, the collective (conscious and unconscious??), the often unpredictable and emergent energies we experience and/or anticipate, the unfolding of stories, and the emotional charge felt, often collective. And circles, of course. So something deep about circles... It truly feels like magic. I'll ponder and reflect.
Best wishes.
Isaac
🙏🏿❤️
From: Jeff Aitken via OSList everyone@oslist.org
Sent: 26 January 2025 15:17
To: OSList everyone@oslist.org
Subject: [OSList] Re: My first Open Space Facilitation
Hi Isaac.
I had a dream before an OST event that I facilitated. The event was in a ski resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains, so the air was crisp and there was fresh snow that morning.
The dream was of my grandmother Rose I had never met. She was gently leading me along a path in the Carpathian mountains near the shtetl where she lived. It was a quick dream, but very moving.
I wrote a poem on the oslist (for one of our biannual poetry celebrations back then) that I can't find right now. The essence was that I repeated her words in the dream as I walked the opening circle: "Come, have some soup, tell me your story!" That spirit/soul gesture of welcome and care is the essence of opening space for me.
Harrison once called the opening walk "the shaman's walk". I resonate with this, honoring the depths of life and experience that are invited to come forward and make contributions to the space. (We can talk about the term but that's another conversation.)
The Fourfold Way-finding that Angeles Arrien brought to Open Space is another expression of these depths.
The following year I walked in the snowy Carpathians on a brief visit to my grandparents' birthplaces and my great grandmother's grave site, to complete that circle in my own life. That dream was also with me on that morning.
Thanks for your posts Isaac!
Warmly
Jeff
On Sun, Jan 26, 2025, 3:07 AM isaac a via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
This might be fairly trivial or it might be deeply profound.
I've been reflecting on my first facilitation of Open Space last Friday, and it's entered into my dreams.
In the dream and experienced OS facilitator was correcting mistakes and I was getting very impatient because attendees were about to arrive.
I was scared they were going to unravel everything, including the main question.
The main question was "How can curiosity and creativity inspire and develop new ideas, and meaningful connections and collaborations"?
Although I was freaking out, there was one thing I found fascinating. He deconstructed the sentence by picking out the words 'curiosity', 'creativity', 'connections' and 'collaborations' (and maybe one or two others, 'ideas', maybe...) and reconstructed a number of alternative questions by rearranging the words and offering synonyms...etc. Deconstruction and organised reconstruction. It was beautiful, although I was really stressed out waiting for people to arrive. It wasn't so much about starting on time, it just felt like all my efforts would be pulled apart, minutes before the event started
So, my questions are:
- Being vaguely aware of the 'magical' and 'spiritual' aspects of OS, does this resonate? Are there any articles I could read, or talks I could listen to about the more 'spiritual' aspects of OS, particularly dreams and dreaming.
- Deconstruction and reconstruction of words to craft questions. Does that also resonate?
... and, in writing it out, I've just realised what the dream was about. Minutes before the event started, one of the janitors at the library bullishly approached me about something he completely misunderstood, and I felt like he was going to derail the event. It was actually quite upsetting. Despite the (now apparent) obvious source of the dream, I think there was an alchemy in turning that upset into something more constructive, albeit frustrating.
Still, OS, dreams, spirituality...etc. and sentence construction, any thoughts anyone?
Best wishes!
Isaac 🙏🏿❤️
From: Peggy Holman via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org>
Sent: 25 January 2025 19:08
To: Open Space Listserv <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org>
Subject: [OSList] Re: My first Open Space Facilitation
Congratulations Isaac!
Many thanks for sharing your story. You never know who or what you will inspire.
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.commailto:peggy@peggyholman.com
Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.comhttp://www.peggyholman.com
Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunityhttps://peggyholman.com/papers/engaging-emergence/
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger
On Jan 24, 2025, at 6:35 PM, Chris Corrigan via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Way to go Isaac. Keep opening space. And as Harrison would almost certainly tell you, keep telling the story.
Chris.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 24, 2025, at 5:11 PM, isaac a via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU, to everyone who helped and supported and adviced me in enabling me to do my first facilitation of Open Space, for 64 Million Artists and Hull Libraries.
I've been asking for all sorts of advice over the last few months and weeks, like "can facilitators call sessions"? "How, when, where can I incorporate a drum circle"?...etc.
It was such an intense period of reflection and deep thought, of trying to figure out so much.
In hindsight, I now know that there were so many unknown unknowns, and the best way to know is to just do it, get some of it wrong and learn.
A few days prior to the event, which happened yesterday, I had the audio recording of Harrison Owen and video of Chris Corrigan opening space, playing in my headphones on repeat, over and over.
When it came to the event I had moments where my mind went blank. I felt I made so many mistakes, but the feedback I got was that it went very well.
The (optional) drum circle went really well. It echoed the "whoever comes are the right people", and it felt right as a way to celebrate together after the closing circle.
So much learned, so much more to learn and, so grateful to have this wonderful group of people to help, support and advice.
Thank you all, so much.
Isaac
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.orgmailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.orgmailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.orgmailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
Isaac/Jeff -
Awesome stuff. Thank you for sharing your stories.
John
John Warinner(541) 815-4103
johnwarinner@gmail.com johnw@watersolving.com
On Sun, Jan 26, 2025 at 7:32 AM isaac a via OSList everyone@oslist.org
wrote:
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful story Jeff.
I wonder if there's something about the relative freedom felt in OS, the
collective (conscious and unconscious??), the often unpredictable and
emergent energies we experience and/or anticipate, the unfolding of stories,
and the emotional charge felt, often collective. And circles, of course. So
something deep about circles... It truly feels like magic. I'll ponder
and reflect.
Best wishes.
Isaac
🙏🏿❤️
From: Jeff Aitken via OSList everyone@oslist.org
Sent: 26 January 2025 15:17
To: OSList everyone@oslist.org
Subject: [OSList] Re: My first Open Space Facilitation
Hi Isaac.
I had a dream before an OST event that I facilitated. The event was in a
ski resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains, so the air was crisp and there
was fresh snow that morning.
The dream was of my grandmother Rose I had never met. She was gently
leading me along a path in the Carpathian mountains near the shtetl where
she lived. It was a quick dream, but very moving.
I wrote a poem on the oslist (for one of our biannual poetry celebrations
back then) that I can't find right now. The essence was that I repeated her
words in the dream as I walked the opening circle: "Come, have some soup,
tell me your story!" That spirit/soul gesture of welcome and care is the
essence of opening space for me.
Harrison once called the opening walk "the shaman's walk". I resonate with
this, honoring the depths of life and experience that are invited to come
forward and make contributions to the space. (We can talk about the term
but that's another conversation.)
The Fourfold Way-finding that Angeles Arrien brought to Open Space is
another expression of these depths.
The following year I walked in the snowy Carpathians on a brief visit to
my grandparents' birthplaces and my great grandmother's grave site, to
complete that circle in my own life. That dream was also with me on that
morning.
Thanks for your posts Isaac!
Warmly
Jeff
On Sun, Jan 26, 2025, 3:07 AM isaac a via OSList everyone@oslist.org
wrote:
This might be fairly trivial or it might be deeply profound.
I've been reflecting on my first facilitation of Open Space last Friday,
and it's entered into my dreams.
In the dream and experienced OS facilitator was correcting mistakes and I
was getting very impatient because attendees were about to arrive.
I was scared they were going to unravel everything, including the main
question.
The main question was "How can curiosity and creativity inspire and
develop new ideas, and meaningful connections and collaborations"?
Although I was freaking out, there was one thing I found fascinating. He
deconstructed the sentence by picking out the words 'curiosity',
'creativity', 'connections' and 'collaborations' (and maybe one or two
others, 'ideas', maybe...) and reconstructed a number of alternative
questions by rearranging the words and offering synonyms...etc.
Deconstruction and organised reconstruction. It was beautiful, although I
was really stressed out waiting for people to arrive. It wasn't so much
about starting on time, it just felt like all my efforts would be pulled
apart, minutes before the event started
So, my questions are:
- Being vaguely aware of the 'magical' and 'spiritual' aspects of OS,
does this resonate? Are there any articles I could read, or talks I could
listen to about the more 'spiritual' aspects of OS, particularly dreams and
dreaming. - Deconstruction and reconstruction of words to craft questions. Does
that also resonate?
... and, in writing it out, I've just realised what the dream was about.
Minutes before the event started, one of the janitors at the library
bullishly approached me about something he completely misunderstood, and I
felt like he was going to derail the event. It was actually quite
upsetting. Despite the (now apparent) obvious source of the dream, I think
there was an alchemy in turning that upset into something more
constructive, albeit frustrating.
Still, OS, dreams, spirituality...etc. and sentence construction, any
thoughts anyone?
Best wishes!
Isaac 🙏🏿❤️
From: Peggy Holman via OSList everyone@oslist.org
Sent: 25 January 2025 19:08
To: Open Space Listserv everyone@oslist.org
Subject: [OSList] Re: My first Open Space Facilitation
Congratulations Isaac!
Many thanks for sharing your story. You never know who or what you will
inspire.
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.com
Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com
Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval
into Opportunity https://peggyholman.com/papers/engaging-emergence/
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get
burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger
On Jan 24, 2025, at 6:35 PM, Chris Corrigan via OSList <
everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Way to go Isaac. Keep opening space. And as Harrison would almost
certainly tell you, keep telling the story.
Chris.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 24, 2025, at 5:11 PM, isaac a via OSList everyone@oslist.org
wrote:
I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU, to everyone who helped and supported
and adviced me in enabling me to do my first facilitation of Open Space,
for 64 Million Artists and Hull Libraries.
I've been asking for all sorts of advice over the last few months and
weeks, like "can facilitators call sessions"? "How, when, where can I
incorporate a drum circle"?...etc.
It was such an intense period of reflection and deep thought, of trying to
figure out so much.
In hindsight, I now know that there were so many unknown unknowns, and the
best way to know is to just do it, get some of it wrong and learn.
A few days prior to the event, which happened yesterday, I had the audio
recording of Harrison Owen and video of Chris Corrigan opening space,
playing in my headphones on repeat, over and over.
When it came to the event I had moments where my mind went blank. I felt I
made so many mistakes, but the feedback I got was that it went very well.
The (optional) drum circle went really well. It echoed the "whoever comes
are the right people", and it felt right as a way to celebrate together
after the closing circle.
So much learned, so much more to learn and, so grateful to have this
wonderful group of people to help, support and advice.
Thank you all, so much.
Isaac
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
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Isaac--
As to 2: How might you re-write your inviting question next time? Do you think you might get it down to three words? How?
Overall, next time, what one less thing will you worry about?
:- Doug. Germann
On Sunday, January 26th, 2025 at 3:05 AM, isaac a via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
This might be fairly trivial or it might be deeply profound.
I've been reflecting on my first facilitation of Open Space last Friday, and it's entered into my dreams.
In the dream and experienced OS facilitator was correcting mistakes and I was getting very impatient because attendees were about to arrive.
I was scared they were going to unravel everything, including the main question.
The main question was "How can curiosity and creativity inspire and develop new ideas, and meaningful connections and collaborations"?
Although I was freaking out, there was one thing I found fascinating. He deconstructed the sentence by picking out the words 'curiosity', 'creativity', 'connections' and 'collaborations' (and maybe one or two others, 'ideas', maybe...) and reconstructed a number of alternative questions by rearranging the words and offering synonyms...etc. Deconstruction and organised reconstruction. It was beautiful, although I was really stressed out waiting for people to arrive. It wasn't so much about starting on time, it just felt like all my efforts would be pulled apart, minutes before the event started
So, my questions are:
- Being vaguely aware of the 'magical' and 'spiritual' aspects of OS, does this resonate? Are there any articles I could read, or talks I could listen to about the more 'spiritual' aspects of OS, particularly dreams and dreaming.
- Deconstruction and reconstruction of words to craft questions. Does that also resonate?
... and, in writing it out, I've just realised what the dream was about. Minutes before the event started, one of the janitors at the library bullishly approached me about something he completely misunderstood, and I felt like he was going to derail the event. It was actually quite upsetting. Despite the (now apparent) obvious source of the dream, I think there was an alchemy in turning that upset into something more constructive, albeit frustrating.
Still, OS, dreams, spirituality...etc. and sentence construction, any thoughts anyone?
Best wishes!
Isaac 🙏🏿❤️
From: Peggy Holman via OSList everyone@oslist.org
Sent: 25 January 2025 19:08
To: Open Space Listserv everyone@oslist.org
Subject: [OSList] Re: My first Open Space Facilitation
Congratulations Isaac!
Many thanks for sharing your story. You never know who or what you will inspire.
Peggy
Peggy Holman
peggy@peggyholman.com
Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com
Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger
On Jan 24, 2025, at 6:35 PM, Chris Corrigan via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Way to go Isaac. Keep opening space. And as Harrison would almost certainly tell you, keep telling the story.
Chris.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 24, 2025, at 5:11 PM, isaac a via OSList everyone@oslist.org wrote:
I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU, to everyone who helped and supported and adviced me in enabling me to do my first facilitation of Open Space, for 64 Million Artists and Hull Libraries.
I've been asking for all sorts of advice over the last few months and weeks, like "can facilitators call sessions"? "How, when, where can I incorporate a drum circle"?...etc.
It was such an intense period of reflection and deep thought, of trying to figure out so much.
In hindsight, I now know that there were so many unknown unknowns, and the best way to know is to just do it, get some of it wrong and learn.
A few days prior to the event, which happened yesterday, I had the audio recording of Harrison Owen and video of Chris Corrigan opening space, playing in my headphones on repeat, over and over.
When it came to the event I had moments where my mind went blank. I felt I made so many mistakes, but the feedback I got was that it went very well.
The (optional) drum circle went really well. It echoed the "whoever comes are the right people", and it felt right as a way to celebrate together after the closing circle.
So much learned, so much more to learn and, so grateful to have this wonderful group of people to help, support and advice.
Thank you all, so much.
Isaac
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org