For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Lundin, he is the author and creator of “Fish Philosophy ” ( http://www.charthouse.com/content.aspx?name=home2)

I have to admit that I was quite skeptical to start off with.  I have been involved in many different aspects of leadership from a very young age and did not believe that leadership is a topic that needs to be discussed for 8 hours every two weeks, but rather one that is practiced. And although we are spending a lot more time talking then doing, I am finding the conversations with my class mates ( representing 14 different countries) interesting, thought-provoking and challenging.

The topic that has been occupying a majority of my thoughts these days is the gap between the existing mode of business operation and framework to the one I strongly believe is the future. What is needed to fill that gap and how to fill it.

The gap I am referring to in very simple terms is the  shift from profit first then everything else, to everything else and profit woven together. From cradle to grave thinking to cradle to cradle thinking. From creating waste to using waste to re-create and innovate. From individual to community.

Innovation and systems thinking or sideways thinking is one of the main areas I think need to be encouraged in order to move, shift and enhance awareness.

Here is an awesome example of someone using the concept of waste equals food to solve an issue.

Got any other examples you want to share?

( thanks westcoast girl for finding the video)

Learning to be Curious again

Do you ever pass through days on autopilot? Slide out of bed, dress, brush teeth and devour breakfast without pausing to reflect. A drive to work or a walk into town passes with no memory of the journey taken. You have a conversation with a friend and moments later you forget what was said. What happens in these moments? Where are we?

When life becomes familiar and routine we look for ways to distract ourselves, to create stimulation and evade boredom. We plug into ipods and fidget with phones. We get sucked into TV shows and websites. Our minds take us traveling into the past or daydreaming about the future.

What are we distracting from? Are we escaping from the routine or ourselves?

Having children has changed the way I look at the familiar. Having children has made me aware of the countless ways I distract myself and has reminded me of the benefits of the simple, yet powerful practice of being curious.

Children are inherently curious. This is how they learn. By investigating, exploring and questioning, they discover themselves and the world around them.

So, what does it mean to be curious?

The OED dictionary defines curious as being; eager to know or learn something

For me, being curious means a number of things.

First, it involves a slowing down. As a new parent, I learned that life no longer ran on a fixed time-scale. My son would have a way of turning a 5-minute walk to the local store into an hour- long adventure. Despite my best attempts to hurry the process, simple tasks would take infinitely longer than expected. My son was being curious; his environment was filled with opportunities, new experiences and treasures. A bike rack became a plaything to climb through; pine cones interesting toys to bounce down the street. When I let go of the need to hurry him (it was never that succesful anyway) and joined him in exploring, I too began to make new discoveries. Between cracks in the pavement, ants swarmed working diligently, a local bush proved to be a great source of blackberries. I had been too busy before to acknowledge these small details, the fragments that make life interesting.

This relates to the second component of being curious which is letting go of knowing. When we take the stance of being an expert, we close ourselves to new learning. Children thrive in discovering, in exploring their environments.

My son went through a stage, where over a couple of months he had to smell every flower he passed.

Again, my need to hurry him was supported with the view that these were just flowers. But my son didn’t just see flowers. He saw colour and different shapes, he smelled a range of fragrances, felt the petals and got to know them. When I let go of knowing and sampled the flowers too, I was surprised how some smelled sweet and others musky, while some seemed not to smell at all. I began to take notice of how the petals varied, how they attracted bugs and held rainwater. I began to experience the flowers.

Conversations provide opportunities for us to let go of knowing. When we assume we know where a conversation is heading, we stop listening. We close ourself to really hearing what the other is saying. Remaining curious and assuming a position of not knowing can provide us with rich learning and deeper connection.

I imagine we’ve all been in situations where we haven’t been heard.

I recall visiting a doctor, suffering from headaches and dizziness. I began describing my symptoms and was promptly cut-off, diagnosed as having hayfever and handed a precription to fill. A second opinion, this time with a doctor who took the time to listen, correctly identified the root of my issues as being a neck injury I had sustained months earlier. Curiousity around my condition would have saved time and energy, not to mention the headaches!

The third component of being curious is, to ask questions, to dig deeper.

It seems like a child’s mantra could be but why, but why, but why?

My son, at around 3, began questioning everything. Why is the fridge cold? Why do I have to wear shoes? Why is it raining? Answering these questions required me to stop and think, with each possible answer having the potential to lead to three or more further questions. “You wear shoes so that your feet don’t hurt running on the path”. “But why does the path hurt my feet?” Because it is cement and really hard and your feet are soft”. “ Why are my feet soft?” “Hmmm…?”

This line of questioning and answering, as ridiculous as it becomes, also has the potential to change the way we see the ordinary. What we as adults take for granted, children pick apart and scrutinize. Their learning becomes our learning as we explore ways in which to describe concepts to them. In being asked to explain the world we have grown accustomed to, we reconnect with it.

Looking at our surroundings with child’s eyes opens up opportunities for us to learn. Even the familiar day-to-day objects, a box of cereal, the bathtub or birds singing in the garden, offer discoveries. Where does the water go when I pull the plug? What are these ingredients on the side of the box? What kind of bird song is that? Asking questions is vital to growth and learning.

Curiousity is a gift. It turns the ordinary into the extraordinary, boredom into possibilities.

Standing in line at the grocery store can be a good opportunity to practice being curious. Rather than stressing at the minutes wasted, cursing under your breath at choosing the wrong line, try noticing what the person in front is buying, imagine what they might be eating that night.

Find out the name of the checkout assistant, who is the person behind the job title?

How are you feeling being in a slow moving line? Extend being curious to looking at your own experience. What is going on for you? We assume we know ourselves, but perhaps there is more to discover?

Simple curiousity can bring us more in touch with the present moment and away from the need to be elsewhere. Children are great teachers if we allow ourselves to learn.

I encourage you to slow down, let go of knowing and ask questions.

Be curious

Thanks Jesse!!

http://www.silverbirchcounselling.ca/

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the post signs here. I find them so entertaining..

I hope you enjoy.

I am resisting the urge to take the first bus home and raid the fridge, but instead am working on finding a way to express some of the thoughts that have been bubbling up inside of me for the past month or so.

I am five weeks into my second semester at Uni. The first semester was intense. First time back at university in a long time, adjusting to a new culture, processing the major changes in my life, leaving my family and friends in order to find a new pathway for my life. Looking back it all seems like a blur. When starting something new, I suppose there are many levels to the whole concept of settling into something.. My experience has been in stages. The first stage is  just surviving and taking everything in. Once the “newness” of something wears off (or the challenge zone turns into a comfort zone), the blur of colors and experiences begin to slow down allowing me to better understand where I am and what is around me on a deeper level.

Comparing this semester with the last one, it seems to me that so far, I am more engaged with the learning. Taking more time to contemplate what I am learning and how it fits or in what way it challenges my thoughts. I am meeting interesting people from all walks of life, connecting more into the circles of people both at university and out of it, who share an interest in making the world a better place in their own individual way. I am figuring out where and what my contribution will be or look like..

In one of my classes ( Business strategy) we have been tasked with creating a weekly personal journal to capture our learning’s and reflections on the course content.  I  asked the professor if I would be able to do so in the form of a blog. My idea was to have a conversation/ create dialogue around the topics I am learning and how they fit into other peoples world views.My best learning has come from listening to what and how other people have to say and are doing. So I am going to figure out how to add a discussion element to this blog and see what happens.

I hope you will join me for the conversation..

I have been spending a lot of time recently with a certain Ozzie man, who has been introducing me to many australian things, such as flanno’s, learning how to say Gday Mate in a proper accent,  speaking with no pronounced R and how to shorten words, but more importantly to Banjo Paterson and John Williamson.

Banjo Paterson was an Australian  poet and John Williamson is a folk singer.

Both provide a wonderful insight into the Ozzie way of life. John Williamson  reminds me of a mix between Stompin Tom Connors and Bruce Cockburn. If you are not tapping your toes to this one listen to it again.

Banjo Paterson had the ability to capture with words the essence of life in Australia in the early days of the country. He wrote a wonderful poem called “The man from Snowy River” which really moved me.

http://www.wallisandmatilda.com.au/man-from-snowy-river.shtml

I am even begining to like custard..

Wow. Next thing you know I will be driving an Ute.

I learned my lesson and now bring two sandwiches, one as an offering and one for me..:)

( for some reason you have to click on the pictures to see the headings)

The feelings of relief and excitement were pretty high. It was kind of like drinking lots and lots of coffee and then jumping on a trampoline, having cotton candy and then drinking more coffee.

I called my parents to tell them and could hardly contain my excitement. The conversation went something like this:

Mom, Mom , Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom,,, guess what??

( My very patient mother) What what what

I PASSED..

( My parents) whooooo

Me- MOM, MOM, MOM, MOMMY Guess what???

This conversation was repeated throughout the day to various people.

Poke poke poke poke, guess what guess what guess what???

Its a wonder I still have friends.

I have to admit that this accomplishment is one that I feel pretty chuffed about. I did work hard, and really did think I would not pass some of my courses. However once the initial excitement slightly wore off, planning for the next steps combined with the little voice of dis-satisfaction of not getting higher grades in two of the subjects  started popping up in my mind. Which of course led me to more navel gazing and think about the question of success and satisfaction

What does it mean to me to be satisfied? When am I satisfied with an accomplishment or experience? How many times have I been somewhere new and thought, yes this is cool, but a previous experience topped this one, or it yes its great that you did an adventure race and finished, but would be better if you finished with a better time or its wonderful that you passed all of your courses and got high marks in two of them, but you could have done better in the other two….

This for me ties into the a number of concepts such as the belief around impermanence, fully experiencing all emotions as they are, both positive and negative with the understanding that they will pass, and that everything passes.  I think it also ties into my belief’ of always being where you need to be, and being able to surrender into where you are and operating out of that place rather then where you want to be.

So I got to the goal post, now what, maybe I should  tackle world peace, or maybe a nap first.

I was speaking with my Aunt the other day telling her about my disbelief about my turning another year older, and she recalled a story when she turned 20 and was in the kitchen with her mother and some other women. One of the women asked her what it felt like to be 20, to which she answered I dont  feel as if I am 20 I feel as if I am 16. My aunt said that at that moment all the women in the kitchen turned and said to her we all do honey.  I guess I am not alone in my feelings of discrepancy between how old i feel versus how old I am.

In the past week or so has been ( a more then usual) reflective time for me. I have been in Australia for about 4 and a half months now. My first semester in university and final exams are over. I am unsure if I have passed all my courses and am very acutely aware of  the massive debt I am accumulating by being here.  I am celebrating my birthday in a different country away from my family and community that I have been sharing my life with for the past ten years of my life, miss my family and friends immensely, yet  I find myself filled with gratitude, peace and happiness.

I feel extremely fortunate and thankful  at this moment in time.  I say this as a statement, without any gloating or boasting. I feel as if being here in Oz has provided me with the most incredible opportunity of perspective. To truly appreciate and understand this.

I am thankful for my family, who love me unconditionally. I am thankful for my friends  in Vancouver who have provided me with guidance, love, understanding and support through thick and thin  and who cheer me on from afar.   I am thankful for my friends in Israel, who despite me being out of sight and out of mind for a long time, still welcome me with open arms back into their lives without judgement. I am thankful for my new friends and community I am weaving together here in Australia that is turning out to be more multicultural, international, diverse interesting loving and supportive one then I have experienced in the past.

I  hope that in this upcoming chronological year more opportunities for  growth, challenge, love, peace and courage will present themselves. That I will be able to continue to reciprocate and grow the love and support I have been given, and that I will be able  to see the world through the eyes of a child with wonder and amazement.

So much love and thanks to you all, from a very gooey, gushy emotional  chronologically older Tiah who still loves sparkles and refuses to grow up.

It took me a bit of getting used to, going to the pub here at 10 am to cheer on the Canucks as they moved up the ranks towards the cup. I gave up on trying to convince my fellow students to join me to watch the game and ended up meeting up with other die hard hockey fans.

Today, the day of game 7 where I thought the Canucks would shine, was a hard day.

I got an awesome start to the day by watching the lunar eclipse at 4 am, and getting to the pub early enough to save some great seats for my new friends. The atmosphere was electric, everyone was decked out in their best Canadiana gear and hockey shirts ready to celebrate in style. I got to admit there was a little cheesy warm feeling in my heart when we all stood up and sang Oh Canada together.

The first period was still filled with hope but after the second one, I think we all knew it was over. Boston played a better game. The Canucks did not bring it. They did not leave it all on the ice. In other words, they sucked. Boston won fair and square. I joked to my fellow hockey fans that it was a good thing we were not in Vancouver, cause they would be rioting on the streets. I was appalled to see that my joke was on me.  Vivid images of burning cars and a crowd running amok was splashed all over the news sites. I am hanging my head in shame. This is NOT the Canadian way. What were you thinking? or maybe thats just it, you were NOT thinking.

SORE LOSERS.

Thats it mate, I am switching to rugby.

Let me shout it outloud right here. K- you were right, I was wrong OK? Today I was dreaming of my wide variety of touques, wolley socks, cozy sweaters and warm scarfs. I was huddled under 4 layers of short shirts and a lonely touque that was trying its hardest to keep me warm. Whenever I would venture outside of the library and bump into someone I know, the reaction usually involved finger pointing, laughing or shaking of the head combined with the “You are Canadian, You should be used to this “type comment.

YES I am CANADIAN. YES I am a westcoaster, YES it rains a lot where I am from and it gets cold- but dammit we are in AUSTRALIA the land down under where women glow and men plunder.. Glow from SUN.. and I moved here cause I wanted warm not cold ( shaking fist at sky)

Tomorrow, I am going use the layering and keeping body warm type skills I thought I was putting away for a while rummage through the clothing I brought and see what I can find.

It might not be very pretty but I am going to be warm- its either that or looking at universities in the tropics.

Now excuse me while I cuddle my hotwater bottle under 4 layers of blankets