Really profound. Spoken like the messiah in Richard Bach's book - Illusions. Regards Pankaj
Harrison Owen <hho...@verizon.net> wrote: Doubtless I have led a blessed and charmed life, at least some might think so and I know so. But the truth of the matter is that funding for my work has never been something I worried about, at least not much. In one way or another things just got taken care of, although not always in the time frame or amount that I hoped for or expected. Starting in the late '70's when I left my last honest job (where I actually got a pay check) I simply followed my nose. If there was a plan I don't have a clue what it was, although in retrospect everything seems to make a certain amount of sense. And my nose took me to lots of interesting nooks and cranies, most of which looked nothing like a job or a paycheck. My facination with organizational culture, myth (story) and ritual was viewed as odd to say the least, and when I ventured into the strange new world of transformation in organizations the common judgement, I think, was that I was just weird. As for Open Space Technology that, as you all know, was a matter of two martinis. Talk about the cost of doing business:-) Regardless, I just kept following my nose. And to date, I have never missed a meal. On occasion friends and colleagues would ask what it was that I thought I was doing -- and truthfully I couldn't really say. The closest I ever came to getting "it" into words went something like this. It was my hope to somehow contribute to the business of making human life human. Is there a lesson here? Maybe. One thing that pops out is that I never made any effort to define "community" -- or maybe more accurately my definition was about as broad as it could get -- human life, or all of humanity. Everything was connected even if I couldn't see it at the time. I have worked in Barrios and Board rooms and as far as I could see it was all the same. People being people trying to get on in the world. Some did well, some not so well, but doing well never seemed to have much to do with their station in life. Corporate presidents could appear as paupers, and beggers as kings. What I learned in one place always had application in another, and when I connected deeply with some individual that connection always led to deeper connections with others. Does this make any sense? I don't know, but it has been fun. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20854 Phone 301-365-2093 Skype hhowen Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website www.ho-image.com OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Peggy Holman Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 4:59 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: funding community work? Yes, to underpin Doug's question below, I find that more and more I am working from a place of deep calling. That call doesn't take me into the lucrative business world to fund the work of my heart. I have jumped in with both feet between the cracks, not even with non-profits, but in calling gatherings beyond the divides of organizational boundaries. It isn't financially sustainable. Hence the question of how to attract the funds for work that, according to its participants is of service to their field, but requires far more time and energy than is reflected in the compensation. (In fact, I jokingly say that in my experience, compensation is inversely proportional to the complexity of the work. I find corporate work, with so much established infrastructure, some of which is actually useful, much easier than the work of reaching out to bring together the ecosystem of a subject area, such as journalism, story, philanthropy, etc. in inquiry, Peggy ________________________________ Peggy Holman The Open Circle Company 15347 SE 49th Place Bellevue, WA 98006 (425) 746-6274 www.opencirclecompany.com For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to: www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook "An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become the fire". -- Drew Dellinger ----- Original Message ----- From: "douglas germann" <76066....@compuserve.com> To: Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 12:50 PM Subject: Re: [OSLIST] funding community work? > Harrison, Kerry and Raffi-- > > Thanks for your replies. They are great strategies and do answer the > question. They have suggested then a refinement of the question: > > If we want to work exclusively or primarily in community work, what are > the sources of funding which are working for you today? > > :- Doug. > > * > * > ========================================================== > 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 * * ========================================================== 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 Regards Pankaj * * ========================================================== 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