On my drive from Tucson, Arizona to Montague, Massachusetts (about 3000 miles, give or take), I stopped in Austin to see an old friend from London. It was with great interest that I watched us engage in a conversation about changes happening in the world, and specifically about a growing awareness of the need for what we called spirituality in business.
When my dad was teaching me about the business world, he told me “never but never talk about politics or religion in the workplace”. And I know I certainly feel uncomfortable when someone with fire in their eyes and passion in their voice tells me of their conversion to one faith or another, whether or not they go on to ask me directly if I don’t want to be saved, too (the question is usually implied if not stated…). So I’ve tended to keep my thoughts on such matters pretty much to myself.
Then, when I was starting Dancing Star International, I called business schools all over the world asking about their level of interest in spirituality in business. Numerous times I heard back “oh, well, personally I’m interested in such things but you could NEVER talk about it publicly in the business world”. My friend in Austin commented that now all of those business schools are likely to have at least one course on the subject.
Seems times have changed!
I will say that I experience a strong distinction between religion and spirituality or spiritual teachings. I personally am much more comfortable with the latter. I have also been developing my own brand of spiritual understanding for many years now (don’t worry, I won’t try to convince you! To me, it’s a very personal thing). What I’ve discovered and use for myself has helped me immensely in times of great change and distress. For instance, after my mom’s death I borrowed from the Jewish traditions and sat Shiva for her for a week – to give myself the space to mourn without having to put on a brave face for the world.
So, one of the topics I’ll be writing more about in my posts is spiritual questions, in part because I’m curious how many others out there have been asking similar questions, and am interested to hear what others have found for answers.
For instance, did you know the planet has gone through an Ascension (in 2006), which us humans are in the process of going through, too? At least that’s what Jen Moffat of Akashic Transformations says. Since I’ve heard from a number of different sources that this process is happening or about to happen, and see the signs these traditions talk about all around me, I have increasingly come to at least entertain the idea. So I am interested when I hear people like my friend in Austin talking about related topics.
If this were true, the question we business people might then ask is, “if that’s so, what does that mean for us, and our businesses?” The short answer, in my mind, is “lots, all good”. The longer answer(s) I’ll be exploring in future posts.