Healing the World--Just Start Somewhere

Healing the World—Just Start Somewhere

Sandra Waddock (cc) 2017, A Healing the World Blog

Lots of people know that there is much wrong in the world today. Many of us really want to do something to change that reality for the better. People and groups are working to mitigate the climate change that experts now agree is human-induced, towards greater equality and equity in a world where inequality seems to be increasing, and building a flourishing world where every person and living being has dignity and experiences wellbeing as the Leading for Wellbeing coalition is doing. On a more local scale, many want to be more positive in their lives, knowing that emotion is contagious and that how we interact with others has profound effects on them. Positive emotions in us, that is, yield positive emotions in others—and, of course, vice versa, according to psychologist Barbara Frederickson.

So where to begin? For most of us that is the tough question. None of us can change the world by ourselves and there are so many issues that the world’s problems sometimes seems overwhelming. In my new book, Healing the World, I argue that more of us need to become today’s shamans and difference makers, taking on the three key roles of the shaman: healing, connecting, and sensemaking in the service of a better world. The message in the book merges nicely with that of a conference called the Fourth Global Forum on Business as an Agent of World Benefit, held in Cleveland, OH, in June 2017.

Global change, from the perspective of the shaman, starts with you and me. Before we can begin to change the world around us, we have to first heal ourselves—at least to the point where we can begin to act effectively in the world around us. Self- and other-awareness are central elements in developing the necessary system awareness that social change demands. That’s obviously not always an easy task, but at the conference a talk by renowned psychologist Barbara Frederickson cemented that idea. She discussed the power of emotions to positively (or negatively) affect others through the constant small or ‘micro’ interactions we have with others. Positive emotions, she argued, broaden awareness and enhance our ability to see the bigger picture—a necessity when we are talking about the system change that is needed to transform our world towards more flourishing and wellbeing for all. Positive emotions have positive impacts on other people—and can enhance the potential for creating positive outcomes.

That message is also aligned with mindfulness approaches for becoming more self-aware and positive, that is, more conscious, as noted by others speakers at the conference, including Chris Laszlo, who runs the Fowler Center at Case Western Reserve University that organized the conference. Laszlo talks about the need for awakening wholeness experientially through ‘quantum leadership,’ offering multiple techniques ranging from simply connecting with nature to various mindfulness practices like meditation to music and prayer. As my book argues, there is no one ‘right’ way to attain awareness and mindfulness, what Laszlo calls consciousness. The ‘right’ way for each individual is what works and what can become a regular practice, for it is, as another speaker Shinzen Young, pointed out, daily and rather extensive practice that is needed.

Individually, however, we cannot accomplish nearly as much as when we work together, dreaming about a better world, finding leverage points for change, and then collaborating to make that change. That was another main point of the conference—and it also neatly fits with the message in Healing the World. Part of the impact of the conference was in sharing stories—and, importantly, dreams—about a better future. Without the capacity to envision needed change, we are likely to get stuck in today’s problems and sometimes even in hopelessness given the extent of issues facing the world. Dreaming, whether individually or collectively, offers an imaginal response and sets out a new vision that opens up awareness and, perhaps, new possibilities that we might not otherwise see. As the conference vividly demonstrated through groups working collaboratively, that visioning and dreaming process can take place in businesses or in groups who gather together to make positive change in the world and work to deliberately design a better future.

Since businesses today are the world’s most powerful institutions, it is clear that they have vital roles to play in bringing about a flourishing future where wellbeing and dignity are accorded to all. So, whether you are a business person, working in an NGO, an activist, a parent, an educator, an artist, in some other walk of life or simply someone who wants to make a difference in the world, the key is to start now, start small, start with yourself and then move outward towards working for a better world in whatever way is best suited to your particular talents, skills, background, and situation. We can, as my book argues, all do our bit—and the world needs us to act sooner rather than later to do so. So do your bit. Start. Just start…somewhere.

Let me end with a short poem written during the conference that I hope breathes life into your desire to be a difference maker today and tomorrow.

Flourishing. Yes, We Can. By Sandra Waddock (cc) 2017

Inspiration, collaboration, working together, yes we can.

We can change the world.

We are all so different, but together, we can.

Through love, through connection, yes we can.

Let go of fear and doubt, bring us purpose, together.

Let us act, together, connect to what matters most, yes we can.

Hope, excited, yes we can.

Be in conversation, in love, engage with new ideas,

Play in your work, work in your play.

Breathe in, breathe out, yes we can. Together.

Inspiration. Flourish. Yes, we can.

See:

Sandra Waddock, Healing the World: Today’s Shamans as Difference Makers. Greenleaf, 2017.