Re-Imagining Networking
Do you know your neighbours? I have to be honest I am just about getting to familiarise myself with their faces for the few nano seconds that we cross each other’s path. Do I feel the urge to know them..? Know their story..who they are..where they are from..what they do…? These questions seem to be suspended somewhere in the backdrop and somehow pop up whenever I open my door but I send them back, reminding myself I am busy and I do not have the time to engage with strangers.
‘Strangers’ — a word that we have coined to make ourselves distant from those we do not know, denying ourselves the opportunity to dive into unknown worlds, inhabited by those we might have been connected within a past life, who knows!
No wonder then the idea of ‘networking’ as we know of it seems increasingly pseudo and unnatural especially in a work context.
If we were to be handed a divine assignment of getting to know every person who crosses our path as if we were to read a book by their name, what would our days look like? What would that make us? Who would we be and what might we be doing..?
This form of networking, and relationships, aligns with the general trends in society where everything has become transactional. Where people give with the expectation of receiving. This linear view of relationships diminishes subtlety and our ability to genuinely come together, without any desires or expectations of how other people should be.
When writing this I am reminded of my (Dan) time in the monastary while living as a monk. There, we had everything we needed (food, shelter, clothing etc.) and all other material distractions were removed by the norms of the temple. It is there that I realized true community, and genuine care. Nobody wanted anything from anybody. Relationships shifted from being transactional to being transformational. It was common for other monks to go out of their way, in order to selflessly serve others, without any expectation. This was the culture, and these behaviors were encouraged and reinforced.
What if our culture was built around these ideals of cooperation instead of the inherent competition that is found in most societies across the globe? What if it was normal to give without expectations? To put others needs in front of yours? Are there other people, and communities, that are already doing this? How can this become more normalized?
Lead Author: Nnaumrata Arora Singh (first 4 paragraphs)
Nnaumrata is a #consciousliving #writer, #speaker #facilitator, #researcher, #changemaker and #coach for #women. Founder of Life Beyond Motherhoodand Zemyna Foundation, Nnaumrata specialises in holding #transformationalspaces using #circlework. She is the designer and convenor of Happiness Circles, a project started for providing women with a safe space for heartfelt sharing and deep listening.
Anchor Author: Daniel Rudolph
Dan has been living and working in different countries for the past decade. He is dedicated to re-imagining education and enabling opportunities for experiential learning and connection. One of his current passions is learning and spreading juggling.
Dan and Nnaumrata are co-facilitating Re-Imagining Our Future, an online course offered by the Charter For Compassion’s Education Institute, starting October 26, 2020.
