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Fwd: My first Open Space Facilitation

Peggy Holman

Sun, Jan 26, 2025 11:27 PM

Forwarding the story below from Kathy Minardi…
Peggy

From: Kathy Minardi <kathy@wholeschoolleadership.org mailto:kathy@wholeschoolleadership.org>
Date: Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 3:27 PM
To: Jeff Aitken <r.jeff.aitken@gmail.com mailto:r.jeff.aitken@gmail.com>, OSList <everyone@oslist.org mailto:everyone@oslist.org>
Subject: Re: [OSList] Re: My first Open Space Facilitation

I think that entering into the Open Space itself calls us sometimes into a deep spiritual place – or at least it can. My memory is facilitating an OS in Germany for a large group of educational leaders and I went to the beautiful large circle space set up for it to begin extra early to prepare myself. I was the only one in the room of this facility. On one of the walls was a picture of Mother Teresa. As I looked at her on the wall she began to move. She smiled at me and moved herself toward me. And then she was suddenly still in the picture again. I didn’t imagine it. It was so real. I will never forget how she came to me.

Kathy Minardi
Executive Director
Whole School Leadership
202.210.4517
www.wholeschoolleadership.org http://www.wholeschoolleadership.org/

From: Jeff Aitken via OSList <everyone@oslist.org mailto:everyone@oslist.org>
Date: Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 10:19 AM
To: OSList <everyone@oslist.org mailto: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 mailto: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 mailto:everyone@oslist.org>
Sent: 25 January 2025 19:08
To: Open Space Listserv <everyone@oslist.org mailto: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 mailto:peggy@peggyholman.com

Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com http://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 mailto: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 mailto: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

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Forwarding the story below from Kathy Minardi… Peggy > > From: Kathy Minardi <kathy@wholeschoolleadership.org <mailto:kathy@wholeschoolleadership.org>> > Date: Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 3:27 PM > To: Jeff Aitken <r.jeff.aitken@gmail.com <mailto:r.jeff.aitken@gmail.com>>, OSList <everyone@oslist.org <mailto:everyone@oslist.org>> > Subject: Re: [OSList] Re: My first Open Space Facilitation > > I think that entering into the Open Space itself calls us sometimes into a deep spiritual place – or at least it can. My memory is facilitating an OS in Germany for a large group of educational leaders and I went to the beautiful large circle space set up for it to begin extra early to prepare myself. I was the only one in the room of this facility. On one of the walls was a picture of Mother Teresa. As I looked at her on the wall she began to move. She smiled at me and moved herself toward me. And then she was suddenly still in the picture again. I didn’t imagine it. It was so real. I will never forget how she came to me. > > Kathy Minardi > Executive Director > Whole School Leadership > 202.210.4517 > www.wholeschoolleadership.org <http://www.wholeschoolleadership.org/> > > > > From: Jeff Aitken via OSList <everyone@oslist.org <mailto:everyone@oslist.org>> > Date: Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 10:19 AM > To: OSList <everyone@oslist.org <mailto: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 <mailto: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: > 1. 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. > 2. 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 <mailto:everyone@oslist.org>> > Sent: 25 January 2025 19:08 > To: Open Space Listserv <everyone@oslist.org <mailto: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 <mailto:peggy@peggyholman.com> > > Bellevue, WA 98006 > 206-948-0432 > www.peggyholman.com <http://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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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 <mailto:everyone@oslist.org> > To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org <mailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org> > See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org > OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org <mailto:everyone@oslist.org> > To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org <mailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org> > See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org > > OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org <mailto:everyone@oslist.org> > To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org <mailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org> > See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org