Idea pollination

Yesterday I met 9 new people. I am spending the week with them as they have joined the organisation I work for, and we are taking them through an induction process.

I was blown away by how many new thoughts and ideas I was pollinated with after spending just a few hours with these people.

It reminded me of the benefits of changing my context on a regular basis, whether it be hanging out with a group of people for a completely different background to mine, or changing the time and way I get to work, or reading a book on a subject I would not normally read. 

Old ideas I have been sitting with for years get new life as left-field ideas come into my consciousness. New possibilities and ventures are born.

When encountering a new culture

I am tempted to offer all sorts of suggestions at my new place of work. Things are different here. There are different assumptions; different constraints; different rituals. My immediate reaction is to want to do things that way I am used to doing them. 

I am parking this urge for the time being. While I will offer a few suggestions, my focus is on asking questions and understanding the way things work here first.

There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that this organisation is functioning, and functioning well. Therefore any reactive suggestions from me may not actually be that useful. It may be adding unnecessary process, or not aligned with the values of the organisation. I want to understand how and why it works first, and then bring my experience into the picture if I think it could help.

The second reason is that I want to unlearn some of my unhelpful habits and assumptions, and the best way to do this is to observe how somebody else does it.

I think that through this approach both the organisation and I will benefit.

Leaps in understanding

There are moments when my mind gets opened to a whole new quadrant of possibilities and realities. Its like I am wondering along, everything is normal, and then I stumble across something that makes something go 'pop', and the world is not quite the same any more. It has become richer, deeper and more mysterious.

I had two of these moments yesterday. One was about sexuality, it what was probably the easiest flowing podcast interview I have done, but also the most uncomfortable for me personally. I am still in two minds as to whether to actually release it to the public.

The second was about the nature of our origins, what we are actually here to do. This was an unusual conversation with my personal trainer, and had me both chuckling and speculating about how we actually evolved on this planet, about a higher calling of letting go of all jealousy, hate, control, fear, and embracing love, peace and connection.

Although both are not out of alignment with my values and the direction of exploration I have been pursuing, they took me a leap forward in my thinking to a place where I feel uncomfortable and uncertain. I like this place. My nervousness about being here in this case tells me to keep leaning in.

'No Junk Mail' Junk Mail

I have an idea for some kind of marketing campaign. It is probably most appropriate for an organisation that is about reducing waste or living with less, but I have no idea who.

My idea is to deliver people some junk mail that has a 'no junk mail please' sticker in it. 

I think there are probably a bunch of people that do not want junk mail, and would put the sticker straight onto their letter box as soon as they received it.

This would have the impact of creating a dramatic decrease in paper consumption, as well as freeing people from the distraction of needless advertising. And of course it would help promote the cause of whatever organisation was behind it.

I am laying no claims to this idea. It has probably already been done somewhere. Who could pick this up for Melbourne?

No harm in trying it on

I had just finished hearing AC Grayling talk at the Gleebooks bookshop in Glebe, Sydney. I walked down the stairs and a book caught my eye just as I was about to walk out. It was The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, and a burst of energy surged through my body. 

There was something about that book I thought was dangerous, heresy. I was a devout pentecostal Christian who was just starting to explore the fringes of my faith. Here was a book that totally recanted my fundamental assumption about existence.

I purchased the book, wondering if I would be stuck down for this act of defiance, and read it over the course of a week while on the beach in Noosa.

I got to the end of the book and thought, I wonder if my life would be better or worse if I lived as if there were no God?

And I decided in that moment to try the idea on for size, and make an assessment in six months time. If there was a degradation to my life, I would go back to believing in God. If there was an improvement, then it was time for a different path.

It is scary to try new ideas on for size, because there is the possibility that everything we have believed and lived up to that moment has been based on an mistruth. 

I tried the 'no God' idea on for size, and over the course of six months my life did improve, largely because I realised I had to take responsibility for my own life. There was no higher power doing it for me.

That was almost 10 years ago, and my spirituality has gone through many iterations since then. But this was the first time I allowed myself to fully embrace an idea I previously could not even look at sideways.