Nature as Teacher
the journey within
No mud, no lotus.
~Thich Nhat Hanh
In my last article, I talked about the power of shifting out of hubris and into humility, as we take the first steps on any learning journey. Sometimes, though that’s easier said than done.
I wrote, Alone in the Desert, the third segment of the KOAN Method: Breakthrough Leadership for a Divided World to share my own journey of un-learning and to share the insights I’ve gleaned from spending time immersed in nature.
Often, it’s the day-to-day routines, habits, and relationships that have become familiar, even comfortable, to us that can also be what keeps us trapped in a static worldview. Our daily commute, the person we see in the checkout counter at the grocery store, our standing lunch date with friends or family, all of these can conspire to repeat and reinforce long-held beliefs in ways that can make it more challenging to shift from hubris to humility, can make it more challenging to notice that we are resistant to change.
If everyone around us has similar points of view, and if our daily routines look much the same day in and day out, it can be hard to see where new ways might even be possible. If this is the case, it can often be helpful to find habits or routines that break us out of what is…
