What do I want badly enough to investin pursuing it—in spite of the obstacles and competing claims on my time and attention, in spite of the risks and the guarantees of uncertainty, in spite of the risk of rejection and the possibility of failure?
I have asked this question for a couple of weeks running. I offered a few thoughts from a Barbara Kingsolver quote to get the conversation started: “elementary kindness…enough to eat, enough to go around… the possibility that kids might one day grow up to be neither the destroyers nor the destroyed.
|Photo by Joost J. Baaker IJmuiden|http://www.flickr.com/photos/joost-ijmuiden/5502646252|
I am coming to really see the deep connection between the iron hold on ego and the unwillingness to let go of institutions that no longer serve us. As facades crumble, there seems to be a hunkering down going on all around, fueled by anxiety and resulting in futile and rancorous efforts to control an outcome that is so much larger than any of us. Forces are telling us to side with the way of Life, and to reach out. Will we listen? Will we stretch? Read More
|Photo by Inha Leex Hale|http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixmilliondollardan/3589115637|
What follows is a piece of the commencement address that Paul Hawken delivered at the University of Portland in 2009. His words join with those of many others amidst our current global conundrum to remind us that we are of the natural world, not separate from “the environment.” Our current economy and education system tend to relegate us to consumers of our life support system, which puts a whole new spin on this notion of “recession.” Time to come out of our caves and get reacquainted with our animal selves and deeper wisdom. Full employment awaits! Read More
I ended my last post with the question: What do we want badly enough to pursue it? Barbara Kingsolver gives us some ideas in Animal Dreams.
“The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what to hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.”
All the wisdom and spiritual traditions give us beautiful things to hope for—completion, salvation, an end to suffering, a world of beauty and peace.
I am very excited about today’s opening of the BMW Guggenheim Lab in NYC for many reasons. At IISC, we talk about and focus on the importance of creating optimal conditions and spaces for collaboration – to innovate, build agreement, create constructive dissonance, etc. This mobile Lab seems to incorporate the best of design thinking and diversity to spur urban revitalization. And I’m wondering what this inspires in and for you.
Our first son was born on Saturday, he came two months early and he is AMAZING. Clearly I am gushing with joy, excitement and love! I have spent very little time with our baby (who hasn’t yet told us his name), but I am already enraptured by him – bonded, mightily connected. And isn’t that so much of what we talk about here on the IISC Blog? Love, connection – life, evolution. Read More
|Photo by the thirty third|http://www.flickr.com/photos/teardownthewalls/2452385422|
Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath.
