Looking back over the blogs from the past I found this one from June 2008.  I had just arrived in Italy.  Weeks before I had been entertaining my dear friend Austin Gamey and a contingent of his colleagues from Ghana.  WE all had spent a week together in BAnff, Alberta. The world was different then. People traveled. In 2008, I traveled a lot.  Looking at this now I am beginning to understand the impact the state of emergency and the fear that the pandemic has awakened in me. The restrictions changed our lives in many ways.

Today is the first day of summer 2021.  The restrictions are being lifted and the world will once again become an oyster we can explore and enjoy…. SIGH.

Time, Travel and PULSE June 2008

Today I am in Florence. Yesterday and the day before blended into one very long day. Twelve hours of travelling and eight hours of time change equals confusion for biological clocks. And yet there is so much travel these days. Business people aboard jumbo jets crossing the ocean like they were crossing the street. I have to wonder about the effect that is having on business decisions and relationships. 

When the Africans were in Canmore a few weeks ago. I watched them struggle as they worked to reset their clocks to meet the demands of learning. Now as I adjust, I am even more aware of how they must have felt. And I think to myself about how walking a mile or travelling across time zones in someone else’s shoes is easier if you have in fact had at least similar experiences. 

Here we are talking about time zones as they exist in the world. The same can be said for the past, present, future time zones of the PULSE frame. Once awareness of the existence of time zones of understanding is experienced empathy is closer. Parties are better able to move to Empathy if they have been there before. Seeing the world as someone else might takes courage and curiousity and is not as automatic as we may think. This is especially true if we have never had any experiences of our own to draw on. Hence the skepticism of first time PULSE conversation participants and the conviction of those who have travelled the conversation time zones. 

Thanks to Marjorie for posting this for me. More tomorrow. Today I see David.

June 3rd 2008