Dear Birgitt Thank you for 'Be-ing'. 'The lighthouse neither warns nor guides, it emanates light'. I will include in my heart prayers these new friends and colleagues as well. blessings, glory
Birgitt Williams wrote: > These words were sung for the group in the closing circle of our Working With > Open Space Technology training in Novosibirsk this evening by Marina Tyasto, > so beautifully done. The song was sung first in Russian and then in English. > There were tears in the circle. > > In Open Space we weave a web > To give each other hand of help > But how to connect the heart of each > Through Russia and United States > Had always many different gaps > Together we can build a friendship bridge > > Come together who you are ever > conflicts all well solve forever > And all our hearts will give a new light birth > With the spirals and the networking > We send love to make it working > Peace and Harmony live always > On the Earth! > > I give thanks to Elena Marchuk for pulling this training event together. > Elena, who many of you have met on the list, and others have met in person, > is an incredible woman with great courage and a huge heart. She is one of the > leaders in this city of 1 ½ million people that is moving forward with a new > vision for the development of people and community. Her vision includes > freedom, democracy, solution focus, and co-creating. She shares her knowledge > wherever she goes and wherever she has the opportunity. And even if she > doesnt have the opportunity she makes the opportunity. She is a determined > woman. And she is not alone. I had the privilege of working with 16 such > leaders for four days in this capital city of Siberia. > > We had a mix of ages in the group, a mix of viewpoints and life perspectives. > Great diversity and great discussions. Each person present has many many > connections including the connections through Rotary Clubs, the womens > leadership movement and various associations, the youth leadership movement > and various associations, regional and city governments, and the Chamber of > Commerce. > > The training program, Working With Open Space Technology, was a backdrop for > the rich rich discussions of how the universe works, humans as self > organizing within the right frameworks, Spirit/God/Creator, Open Space > Technology and Reiki (six of us in the room actively work with Reiki), sacred > sites and ceremonies, living in Open Space, higher consciousness, leaders > with Open Space Technology and Open Space Organizations needing higher > consciousness, assisting others to develop higher consciousness . > > We spoke of the Open Space Organization and holding up the vision for this to > be the conscious way of organizations. Living and working with Open Minds and > Open Hearts. > The location of our training housed the Open Society offices. > > Reality in Novosibirsk includes shortages, sometimes no heat, sometimes no > water or hot water, sometimes difficulty in getting basics such as milk. And > reality includes the old ways visible on the street, and the new ways visible > on the street. A city in transition. This city is the capital of Siberia and > in the actual center of Russia. It was originally a small town built on the > river. And in the late 50s, the most intelligent of all scientists were > moved here (I think this was Kruschevs vision) to form a think tank of > brilliant minds who could connect between disciplines. There knowledge was > never used for business or industry so both business and industry are not > technologically advanced here. Rather, it was used for the military. And this > area had a strong military presence. Government support for both scientists > and military no longer is a fact of life here. Former government workers are > now among the lowest paid workers in Russia, with salaries of about $70 a > month. > > And it continues to amaze me against this backdrop, what actually took place > in our training, and what the vision is that these people work with to the > future. > > And the group developed their initial work for an Open Space Technology > website in Russian with people assigned to do the work of building this. They > intend to build and keep a database of all Open Space Technology facilitators > in Russia. They intend to create an organization for supporting each other, > helping each other to develop in their work with Open Space Technology and in > the development as persons. > > For me, my heart was full much of the time with the wonder that I was > witnessing and being part of. It was the first time that I led a training > session that required translation of the whole session, translation happening > every sentence or two. Marina did an excellent job with this. Elena filmed > the session. The translation time and the change of pacing even Opening the > Space was interesting. The difference in cultures posed fascinating learning > for all of us as we worked to understand. By the end of day two, people were > communicating to me through the translator that there was communication > happening between us at the heart level, the soul level that did not need > words. This continued as deep heart connections were made. By day three, > people who had only a limited number of English words (I speak no Russian) > came and spoke to me in one to one visits, working hard to make themselves > understood. They had important things to communicate. We resorted to lots of > gestures, and ma! > ny! > ! > many long and deep hugs. Conveying what we could not with words. > > One participant said that the training program and the way it was done > confirmed for her what she had always believedthat natural processes were > the way and that the many methods and techniques she had learned were not > necessary. > > And another said that a window had been opened to his soul. > > We all expressed gratitude to each other, gratitude to Harrisons creation of > Open Space Technology, and gratitude to our Creator. > > I explained that I always pass my bells around the circle for people to use > for the closing, in the most selfish way. I said to the group that I have a > life in which I am always having to let go of many people with whom I have a > deep heart connection, most of whom I am unlikely to see again, and that by > passing the bells around, I know that each such person has held these bells > and that whenever I ring them, I ring them in remembrance to all who have > touched them and are doing good work around the world. > > I will not forget this group of beautiful people. They are courageous > leaders. And they represent a turning point in my own life that is huge. I > will ring my bells for them and all others who have held them. Including my > family who I am often geographically distant from. This week, Ward is in > Istanbul, my young people Rachel and David are in Alberta, Canada, and my > other young people Laura and Aaron are in Ontario, Canada. All of them have > provided the support and encouragement for me to do this work and as I am > sitting here tonight, heading to meet Koos de Heer in Amsterdam tomorrow > morning, I am thinking with deep gratitude to my family who has Opened so > much Space to let me be me and to give up time with me to allow me to BE in > the world. I could not do this without this love and support behind me. > > Blessings, > Birgitt Williams > June 6, 2001 > > * > * > ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, > Visit: > > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
