The recently held UN Climate Conference in Glasgow is a stark reminder that our world is in peril, and we need all sorts of people coming together to solve our problems. Different perspectives and backgrounds and expertise…
And wisdom. The kind of wisdom that’s passed down through ancient cultures and traditions.
This is a core value of a foundation called Le Ciel-producers of the movie The Twelve, and host to the Holistic Visions Symposium in Barcelona, where they gather to discuss twelve big issues facing humanity today.
Next week will be their first event since the pandemic, and my second time in attendance.
A lot has changed since November, 2019.
Just look at the pandemic. The world faces more challenges than ever. I’m also entering the Symposium after nine months of introspective, engaging work with Le Ciel, versus in 2019, where I was invited mere days before the event.
Back then, I thought it was ‘out there.’
I have spent my life in business and politics, and while Le Ciel Foundation utilizes facts and data as resources, they also lean on a less easily pinned down spirituality. Wisdom preserved in traditions and elders.
I’ve never been someone who simply believes life was better in the good old days. Those days weren’t nearly as good as we think, especially not for everyone. But that doesn’t mean we need to cast history aside or ignore teachings passed down through generations.
We need to bring all of our tools to the table-facts and figures and modern-day best practices, as well as the wisdom of elders to solve our most complex problems.
I have been advocating for a broad, creative, Renaissance-thinking approach to solving problem sets for years, and I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t live by my own values. My work with Le Ciel has helped me expand my perspective, and I am eternally grateful for that.
While the foundation and I may approach solving problems from different angles, we share the same belief: our world faces deeply unsettling issues. And to address them, we have to gather a confluence of minds.
Which we will do in one week’s time.
More to come.
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