I am taking part in MITx: 15.671x U.Lab: Transforming Business, Society, and Self, and it’s week 3 right now. I have been a bit slow on the uptake, and since today was the second live-session I wanted to make sure I got some of the work done from weeks one and two, so I immersed myself in #ULab today. First catching up with the material I had not yet gone through fully, then a 1,5 hr live-session which was absolutely fantastical! What an experience, being part in a journaling exercise which was powerful in and of itself, but the energy from tens of thousands others doing the same exercise at the same time, spanning the globe, now that really was a noticeable shift in energy!

After the live-session my virtual hub had a coaching circle with our second (out of six) cases, and just like the first time, it was a very powerful session. The power of presencing, of connection, and of truly listening, is hard to put into words. So I won’t even try.

But earlier today as I was catching up, I read a few lines by Peter Senge, commenting on recent data on the state of the world as chronicled in The Guardian.

”These are prospective realities many of us have lived with for a long time – well over 40 years for me. Yet, they are very difficult for people to hold without emotional reactions that lead to denial and shutting down in one of many forms (anger, despair, indulgence, etc.). This is our basic aikido challenge – to face the reality (prospective as it is) with equanimity and awareness and to do so in a way that we continue to strengthen our mental conduct to not allow negative thoughts to shape our perceptions and actions. 

But for those of us who have been in denial for a long time, moving from denial to equanimity rarely happens in one movement. So, how to help maintain some balance (keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, as Kipling put it) may be the operational definition of mindfulness in this day and age.”

I find what Peter Senge had to say there much to the point. The trick is just that, to face reality without getting sunk by all the crap that is definitely a part of reality. But it’s not all there is, and as we create our world, we can create something with less crap. We can create something else. Something better. For all. It is possible to transform business, society and self, I know it is, and if nothing else, having 50 000 + people across the earth taking this MOOC, that’s quite a lot of change agents to help push us along towards a better future. Towards a beloved community. Might that be it?