Law of two feet and Wosonos: sage words by Harrison Owen

Wosonos 2012 in Florida, last May.
Some 75 people took part.
At the end, we have proposals: where would we gather next year?
At last, we knew it will take place in Belgrade (Serbia).
The decission process seems to have been long and rough.
You can read something on it here.
When reading it, I dropped on Harrison Owen´s short, clear, deep, sage words (I changed formats to underline what I find most important):

Discomfort usually comes (in my experience) when discussion gets stuck at either/or. Everything resolves as soon as both/and shows up. It is called the Law of Two Feet! Who says there can only be one WOSONOS? Anywhere it happens is the right place – and as often as folks care to make it so. I do find it somewhat amusing that the 75 odd souls who showed up in St. Petersburg feel called upon to “decide” for the “whole” community. Funny.

Brilliant!

But the string continues, in a surprising, funny way,... read this piece of conversation between ho and Artur Silva,...

Harrison wrote...

Lisa – Hate to say it, but you know I will. I think you are working much too hard! And I’m not really sure it is a question of “design” (“So I love thinking of the 'devil’s advocate' questions when thinking of design.”)—Just do it, just like we always do. For example, when it comes to invitation time just open the space for Invitations. Kind of an offshoot of “action planning.” Whoever cares stands up with a sign (Spain, Serbia, wherever), Goes to a corner of the room, and waits until all other invitations have been made. When all the invitations are “posted” everybody else is invited to journey to that part of the world they feel drawn to. Time to discuss practicalities of location and date – and not incidentally put together an initial Host Team. People can wander from place to place, and after a short time (45min?) somebody with a mike passes from group to group for a “report.” Report could be: Your invited to Serbia, Spring of 2014. Or maybe there are several. Wonderful! Or maybe a group concluded it is a wonderful idea, but not now. Done. No Sweat, no Strain.

Alternative: Place a hat in the middle of the floor (my hat would do) – Anybody who cares deposits a folded piece of paper with the place specified and their name. Just before the Closing Circle, the names are drawn – We have the winners: EVERYBODY!

Harrison

___________________________________

Artur Silva (Portugal) wrote...

Hi Harrison:

In a previous mail you said:

I do find it somewhat amusing that the 75 odd souls who showed up in St. Petersburg feel called upon to “decide” for the “whole” community.

This suggests me two questions:

First: is not that what is always done in the end of a WOSonOS? Why putting the question this time?

Second: Is not there a contradiction between your [quote in your previous email] and the detailed description of "how to do" that you provided in this post (above)?

Warm regards

Artur

PS: I suspect that you missed my heteredox contributions, so here it is a new one ;-)

___________________________________

Harrison Owen wrote...

Artur – Consistency is a virtue I have never been accused of…J

ho

______________________
Live, laugh, love :-)!

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How to build your creative confidence, by Tom Kelley (Ideo)

2012 mai 16  http://www.ted.com Is your school or workplace divided into "creatives" versus practical people? Yet surely, David Kelley suggests, creativity is not the domain of only a chosen few. Telling stories from his legendary design career and his own life, he offers ways to build the confidence to create... (From The Design Studio session at TED2012, guest-curated by Chee Pearlman and David Rockwell.)

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes...

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www.in-fluyendo.blogspot.com (Sp.)
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Congrats Jonathan Coe!

I had the pleasure to meet Jonathan Coe the day before Wosonos 2012 began in London. Charming, smiling, open man. Now I know he is the OSLIST Poet Laureate this year, invited by Lisa Heft.

Very happy with these news!

Here a piece of him I´ve loved:

Space Open Circle 

from Open Space Technology - A Users Guide by Harrison Owen

Note: This poem is in the 'found poetry' form. I have made selections from the original text and decided how to shape and punctuate it.

I have removed all the other words from the book - but none from the selected phrases.

The circle is the fundamental geometry

of human communication.

A circle has no head or feet,

no high or low

no sides to take;

in a circle people can simply be

with each other,

face to face.

The geometry of the circle 

and the rhythm of breath.

Show Up

Be Present

Tell The Truth

Let It All Go.

Do nothing and remain

invisible.

Be prepared

to be

surprised.

Who ever heard of a square of friends?

-- Jonathan Coe (London, England)

... and here the piece that became him this year´s laureate:

WOSONOS 2012 

In Stoke Newington Town Hall I fell in love with nothing,

and it was no thing that I loved.

Alone, knowing no-one and nothing I walked the circle

I got present

I was connected.

Presence,

absence.

The empty space of the opening circle.

Profoundly empty,

containing no thing

Through me 

everything and no-thing, in me

the circle, in me

the space, in me

the people, in me

butterflies and bumblebees.  In me

body, in me

mind, in me

image, in me

thought, in me

feeling, in me

sensation, in me

nothing. 

It started at the right time

The right people were the ones who came

The only thing that could have happened

Was what happened

It was over when it was over.

The bees were buzzing

The 'flies were flitting

The space was open.

The circle was squared.

-- Jonathan Coe (London, England)

Congrats, Jonathan!


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Paul Levy´s one minute Open Space introduction.

Source: http://rationalmadness.wordpress.com

Imagine a conference that didn’t start with a loaded agenda, but instead an empty one.
Imagine all the people there were the right people because they has chosen to be there and wanted to really explore something, or solve something together.
Imagine a conference where we were relaxed but conscious about time, and where nobody ever stayed where they didn’t feel they wanted to, where it was okay to get up in e middle of a session and follow your two feet to a place you’d rather be.
And imagine a conference where nothing dragged on longer than it needed to.
Imagine that conference was this one, and that empty agenda over there with time slots and meeting spaces was your agenda waiting to be filled by you, right here, right now.
And all you had to do was step up and announce your session, and whatever happens is what happens, whoever comes are there because it is right for them to be there, and however long it lasts, is the right length of time for it to be.
Imagine we were starting right now…

(Welcome the Silence. Listen. And wait…)
Discussion
So, this is how I sometimes address an opening circle. Fairly quick, minimal fuss, then I step back and ensure the circle is encountering the space of possibility, not me.
It’s always led to a glorious embarrassing silence. Then like little cleansing raindrops, tentative at first, then a pitter patter, and then the music of profusion. And there’s a sense of a community co-creating, not a group attempting to confirm to a process.
It isn’t the only way to do an introduction. But hey, try it.

Thanks so much for this sage way, Paul!  

Source: http://rationalmadness.wordpress.com

@Eleder_BuM
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www.flowandshow.blogspot.com (En)
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Orgasmic birth

Parto orgásmico. Orgasmic birth - subtitulado from Ana B. Camponovo on Vimeo. Here the text that accompanies the video...

¿Se puede parir sin violencia? ¿Se puede nacer de una forma natural y relajada? No dudes en ver estas imágenes que, aunque no son de gran calidad, dan una idea del abismo que existe entre el parto horizontal y el parto natural. La reconocida ginecóloga C. Nothrup y el simpático físico cuántico Nassim Haramein y esposa, nos hablan, entre otros, acerca de sus experiencias.

More info here, even a book, by Debra Pascali Bonaro ...

Laugh, live, love!

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www.flowandshow.blogspot.com (En)
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