Yesterday, On Monday, I Opened the Space with a theme "Creating Welcoming 
Communities". This small group is focused on enabling communities to welcome 
the "disabled" and for communities to discover their ability to foster deep 
relationships and real community. After an hour of context setting by the 
group, which they and I thought was required with a group of largely 
strangers, I Opened the Space for 4 hours. They jumped up, discovered new 
connections and community emerged there. They had gathered bankers, 
community workers, agendy staff, TV producers, academics, retired CEO's, 
existing CEO's, most of whom have some link, through personal experience or 
children, with what is called "disability". They found the stories they told 
each other energizing. They were surprised at their own community in the 
closing. They were taught lessons by one woman with only the use of her head 
(quite proficient at directing her wheelchair with her mouthpiece). She 
knows real community cannot be controlled. She has learned deeply how to 
"let go". 

I then spent 3.5 hours the next day (today) enabling a small group (4) to 
converging the reports into a proposal to go to funders. By the end of that 
time, we had the basic elements of the next funding proposal outlined using 
the Open Space reports as much of the data. After reviewing the reports as 
to where the energy lay for future work, we framed the outline of the 
proposal and set the priority reports in that context. We explored each of 
the top reports and developed them into proposals, with elements of the 
strategy and cost projections. Continuing the conversation with more Open 
Space was a top priority. One member of the group will complete the 
wordsmithing for first presentation on Saturday.  The two days went beyond 
her expectations--and mine. The energy stayed high. 

Larry