Grieving & Thriving Series
Three participants at the annual Opening Space for Peace and High Performance in 2022, including Kennan Salinero of ReImagine Science, hosted sessions exploring death, both metaphorical and physical, in larger context (Open Space, work-culture, society). Open Space Technology is a powerful co-creation tool which allows us to explore multiple possibilities and initiate a flow of actions in ways most meetings don’t address. Visit this website to learn more: https://openspaceworld.org/wp2/what-is/.
We found a set of common threads that sparked a deep interest in continuing exploration resulting in four online events so far. Our most recent event was a five hour online event March 25th, 2023. Following the inclusive example for online meetings as hosted by Devoted and Disgruntled, we have been developing our skills in hosting our events in English, French, and for our initial event, Spanish.
Science and the Arts – Together at the Edges
How are we moving forward?
As the moment of loss might be the edge between past and present, what is the edge in the context of grief? For some of us, as we look at that future and what we truly want, or what might come to pass, it can really scare us.
How do we deal with unrealized visions of the future? With the grief of a future that will never happen? How might we lean into what feels like mistakes or failures? In this uncharted territory, are we beginning to see things we didn’t see before?
In our ‘Grieving and Thriving’ open space events hosted in 2022, we have explored spaces of grieving as well as the thriving that we believe becomes available when we allow ourselves to fully grieve. We seek ways our full humanness can show up – in systems, in institutions, in communities and for ourselves. We are still asking the same questions, but shifting to new ways to look at them.
In our most recent event, we considered how science, and art, may look at these dimensions and ask these kinds of questions in very different ways. We explored questions such as –
What do we need to face and release in order to thrive?
What no longer works?
What has not been working?
What maybe has never worked?
What is possible?
Positioning these questions in the center of four anchoring ‘corners’ – grieving, thriving, arts, sciences.
Our hope is that these conversations can help us stand in community at the finished edge of ‘now’ with deeper strength and greater wisdom and insight.
Our first hour included a series of stories about grief in the arts and sciences, with our colleague Kennan Salinero, scientist and principal founder of ReImagine Science and special guests Daniel Kohn, franco-american artist, co-leader of the Ocean Memory Project and Paul Levy, writer, technosopher and director of Rational Madness Theatre.
ReImagine Science was hosting sponsor, joined by media sponsors Open Space Institute-U.S and Tools for change .
Annick Corriveau, Open Space Technology facilitator, Québec, Canada
Kári Gunnarsson, Facilitator, Coach, Designer and Geographer, Iceland
Kennan Salinero, Executive Director, ReImagine Science, USA
Harold Shinsato, Agile coach-developer and board member of the Open Space Institute, USA
Rijon Erickson, Spirit Guide, Purple Phoenix Partners LLC, USA
Helene Cahen, Innovation Consultant, Strategic Insights, USA
Bill Aal, Facilitator, Co-Founder, Tools for Change and Unconference.net, and Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist, USA