What's All the Hoo-Ha? by Laura Neff

My 27 year old nephew is staying with us for a few days, in between one chapter of his life and the next. Last night, the house was quiet, and for the first time in a long time, we flowed into a conversation about Life that was simply exploration -- seeing, sharing, and wondering about things together.

We talked about the evolution of technology, about artificial intelligence and virtual reality and how they might affect humanity in the years to come. And somehow we started laughing about how all the hoo-ha, the running around and busyness human beings create, starts to seem like what gives meaning to our existence. When really, even though we’re the only self-aware beings on the planet, what we need is simple: we need to eat, be safe and sheltered, and be in community. We love the hoo-ha, but it’s easy to forget that it’s not actually Everything.

And then I told him about how, at work, we're re-designing a course we call "Advanced Mastery." Amidst all the hoo-ha, it offers an experience of touching the simple richness of life through presence, attention, arts and creativity, communion and communication with one another and ourselves. It struck that after spending nearly 30 years developing organizations to work well for the world and the people in it, we’re taking a stand that, in part, "mastery" of ourselves and our leadership goes back to our senses -- color, attention to the power of language, listening, and present-moment awareness. “Slowing down to go faster,” is how we sometimes put it. And he got it. This young man who has never set foot inside a corporate environment could really see that.

Then we talked about complexity, and how we, as a culture, are basically dying of stress. We wondered if part of that is because what our bodies and minds are made for is not all the hoo-ha, but to do things like stick seeds in the ground in a spot that’s open to the sky, water them as we’re able, and only “stress” about things like leaf-eating bugs and weather patterns. Simple, straight forward, clear.

Coming back to the simplicity of this moment -- color, poetry, words, music, what’s happening in your eyes when I look over there… I love that simplicity is essential for Mastery. It’s a homecoming to who we fundamentally are.

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