The first step to creating sanity I previously wrote about was humility rather than arrogance. The second step in creating sanity is a willingness to learn rather than teach. The learning I am speaking of is experiential learning, not intellectual learning.
When I lived in Paris after earning my Ph.D., I was overwhelmed with the culture, the people, and most of all how they viewed the U.S. My reality had to quickly adjust if I was going to live there for my Postdoctoral Fellowship. The science was easy after Berkeley, but the cultural adjustment was challenging.
What I learned was if I kept my mouth shut and just listened, I would not only adjust, but also see the world in a completely different light. It was the first experience of expanding my reality to "walk in someone else's moccasians." The astounding point was what they were saying began to make sense! We are not the saviors of the world and most of what we do what is in our own best interests.
The previous statement is probably true of most, if not all, of the world governments. How do we get out of this cycle of self preserving behaviors, particularly when survival is not at stake? Transformation! And the most direct means of transformation is the authenthic experience of others. Particularly, those whose ideas and worldviews are significantly different than our own. What's so cool today is that such a relationship can take place on the internet, which is least threatening.
This is a neat way to create our nation in cyberspace. The point is to be willing to learn from others. Listen more and notice how we have an unconscious opinion about everything that occurs in our sensing reality. Learn to quiet the mind and all of it's conversation to allow experiencing what others might be "expressing" by using words. In other words, listen to their meaning, their emotion, and most of all their underlying request to be understood, accepted, and loved.
Ultimately, love is the only force that will bring transformationa and sanity to humans on this planet we call Earth. Make a commitment to learn something new for the next seven days by listening to peole you live and work with--regardless of age.
Love and Peace,
Bill
Where to Now?The devastation of Hurricane Katrina is forcing millions to ask themselves one of life's most difficult - yet vital - questions. |
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A diversity fable written by New Orleans native William Guillory, PhD, offers answers to that question, and what all Americans can do to turn tragedy into new life. |
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Animal Kingdom: A Diversity
Fable. 
