Hi Catherine,
I offer this with respect and hope that it will serve you and your community. Take what you like and leave the rest. What I'm hearing in your post is your deep caring for this community and a desire to preserve it as it has been in the past. To me, a community is a living organism that needs to grow and change in order to stay vital and alive. Even though you are feeling a deep division with some members of your group, something about this community attracted them - perhaps sex and greed, perhaps an impulse to personal growth, perhaps something else. This seems like a great opportunity. In this proposed OS, I suggest staying curious about why they came and what their contribution could be. When I am feeling hurt or threatened, it is incredibly difficult to shift my perspective and to stay close to my stake of growth for the whole community - yet it is the only way forward. All people involved have a piece of the truth and can contribute to a vibrant future for the community. My goal is to stay open long enough to find that future so everyone can get excited about it. It seems to me that is what OS is for, in the first place. With best wishes, Joanna Fletcher _____ From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Catherine Pfaehler Sent: March 17, 2007 6:40 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Fear of abuse of the space Dear Listers As I am planning our 3rd OS in Thielle (a naturist's paradise in Switzerland, which is in its 70th year now), the conflict is still going on. Mistrust is still strong on both sides. I offer this OS being a member of the Network Renaissance Thielle, which is working to save the original idealistic intents of this wonderful community and to strengthen the community of naturists in this difficult time full of stress. The other side are a few people who have seized power and are doing everything to make the idealists leave. Their intentions to change the focus of the place into a normal camp ground for nudists (and probably also for sex tourists) were only realized when it was almost too late - they have already taken control of the board of the foundation in a very concealed way and have employed a manager for the camp who has no understanding whatsoever of naturism, a hunter. (Naturists are naked, like nudists, but their focus lies on spiritual and consciousness development. They don't eat meat - that's why choosing a hunter as a manager shows a lot about the current president's values -, don't use drugs or alcohol, don't smoke - if not 100 % in everyday life, then certainly on the camp site. Many families are in Thielle in their 3rd and 4th generation, every summer.) My question to you is: How can I hold space in this conflict in a way which prevents abuse? What do I say in the givens in regards to this? What does the one board member on our side say in his welcome speech? We have experienced time after time that our good intentions were turned around and made into something which was then presented publicly as horrible. Somebody from the other side last year even came into the plenary to have a look and then called us a sect. This is how the current president of the board works to eliminate those who do not support his actions. He spreads some lies about us and then continuously uses people who mean well for his bad intentions. In paradise, one doesn't think this way, and therefore only realizes this when it's too late. So this fear of abuse of the space is more than realistic. Grateful for your ideas and experiences - Catherine Catherine Pfaehler Senn Open Space Begleitung & Coaching Kellersriedweg 8 CH - 2503 Biel +41-(0)32 - 365 68 41 c.pfaeh...@bluewin.ch * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
