What will happen tomorrow?

June 6th 2009



I’m here in Yorkshire at the Oasis School of Human Relations for three months, where I’m going to be participating in an inquiry into the workplace of tomorrow.

This week I was at Oasis everyday; the first time for several years I have been in any workplace for a full week. I felt very welcomed and in many ways at home with the directors and staff as we worked together as a team to prepare everything needed for the first groups to begin the inquiry next week.

At the same time it was quite a jolt to go from my inner oriented life as a writer studying consciousness to this outward orientation; and from practicing presence to contemplating the future.

How do you feel when you think about the future? Do you think about it? And if so, do you think about it in any detail? Over the week as we talked about how the half day sessions are going to be structured, and practiced some of the processes, I was struck by how much our individual projections into the future are coloured by our subjective perceptions and how ill prepared most of us are for what may come.

A personal example of this unpreparedness is how aging has suddenly caught up with me. Until six months ago when I injured my knee I didn’t feel old and I never gave getting older a thought, now here it is creeping up on me and I am totally unprepared. When considering the life of an organization, although there was a lot of recognition that the implications of climate change and planetary responsibility should be top of the priorities list, in actual fact short term goals and survival occupied the majority of people’s efforts. When we multiply these two admissions of short sightedness by several billion, we start to get the picture of just how many heads are being buried in the sand in our world. And how few concessions are being made in the face of the collective problems we face.

I know if some of my more positive friends were here right now they would be telling me it’s all perfect and we just have to open our hearts and trust. Hm. That place of trust is a very beautiful place to be and I love to be there, yet trust without action isn’t enough. “Trust in Allah, but tether your camel” the old saying goes. But where is my camel and where should I tether it?

I don’t think I am the only one confused. In the workplace the bits of paper fly around and everyone keeps super busy and I bury my head in the next e-book about consciousness and wish that the future would go away….

One good piece of news though. I’ve been watching some nature programs on tv. (British tv still has two channels without advertising, so it’s actually bearable to watch.) And the rivers here, which were badly polluted, have been regenerated, so much so that wild otters and beavers have been re-introduced and are now swimming with grace and joy amidst all the other wildlife enjoying the spring. This is good news and it makes me happy.

As I reflect on this week I realize I have two wishes for my own future, one is to be able to sink my roots deep into community and lasting relationship, and the other is to know that I’ve made a difference. Making a difference doesn’t have to be a big thing or heroic, it can be noticing when someone does a good job, or doing any of those hundred little things that make another person feel valued. I think that’s where I’m going to set my sights this week. Have a good one!

Rose