Shot of Wonder: Conducting possibility amid chaos & violence

I’ve been wondering lately about how we respond to rampant chaos and even violence.

My default reaction is to seek control. And then I want to know, “What can I do?”

Maybe that works on a personal level with small-scale problems and surprises. My younger daughter gets poison ivy that’s spreading as her emotions spiral downward. Well, I can rally my tools and wits, control the spread and assuage her feelings.

But at the level of business, creative endeavors, and especially at the level of our culture and world events - those reactions to control, act quickly, or seek simplistic solutions often make things worse.

We need something more than worry, brute force, and our faculties of control - reason, logic, and analysis.

This fact came in high relief at the UNPLUGGED+UNBOUND Immersive Retreat where a dozen people from diverse backgrounds convened. They came to seek insight and clarity on their business direction, creative work, and/or next-chapter contribution in life and work.

They called upon sensory presence, somatic intelligence, pattern-seeking in nature, combinatory and imaginative thinking, and wonder to activate their ability to generate novel, beautiful, and useful insights to complex challenges.

But they especially learned to listen differently. To talk differently. To support and collaborate differently.

Together.

I felt sort of like a conductor with a solid co-conductor of a retreat assistant who had before him a remarkable symphony of talented people able to be in deep solitude and deep connection.

We co-created magic, music, and possibility.

Most of all, I came away with grounded hope for us.

All to say, I have created this Shot of Wonder with this wondering in mind. My train of musing took me especially to 1963, a few days after President Kennedy’s assassination.

Take a look and let me know - Is this Shot of Wonder experiment working for you?

Then, I invite you to wonder out loud back with us in the Comments or reply.

Let me know what you think. And as a premium reader, let me know if you’d like the transcript.

Psst… The first Shot was free as will always be the Sunday Wonder Dispatch. If you want more Shots of Wonder and more say in what I offer, be sure to up your wonder ratio.

More good things to come. Thanks.