Being back in Ljubljana, after spending a few days in New York City, and still under the impression of connecting and learning with some amazing people there, and streamlining/sharpening my vision for 2018, I am thinking about the similarities and differences among different places. And how we function about the environment we are in, and the people we are surrounded with. How (can) measure this? Interesting how we learn and find the way to follow/adjust to the written and unwritten rules, habits, and social conditions, and create from/within these settings. We are amazingly creative, no matter in which environment we are in. I wonder if also our answers to the questions of why, how, and what we create would be the same in each environment.

I always appreciate the opportunity to travel, somewhere distant if possible. It offers me the possibility to observe things from different perspectives, and it helps me to center and refocus, and to learn and unlearn, and then learn again. For that reason, it is always an easy choice for me to travel to the States. Europe, regardless of all the interesting, beautiful, and rich variety, seems to some extent similar, and known. Although I live in a beautiful country where because of the scale and geography you can in just a short drive experience quite a variety of scenery, culture, and nature, and one could say it has everything, and I would agree, but I would also say that I (still) miss some spaciness, openness, and diversity in it. Those later for me represent different energies, different ways of living, and creating. And also different opportunities, possibilities, and potentials for growth and development.

I am not comparing different places in a way that is better, or worse, and that the missing parts are some kind of lack. Just acknowledging that there are differences among different places, areas, and environments. As they are among people. It is something we are part of, and which to a certain extent defines/affects us. These differences, or better say the distance among different things because of not knowing, could indicate that we are ‘worlds apart’, but I believe we are, or at least we could be ‘worlds together’. These differences are something we can learn from, about ourselves, and each other – on individual, community, country, and global levels. We can grow, and develop from this awareness, and knowledge.

This analogy of being either worlds apart or worlds together reminds me of the insight I got during my training to become an NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) practitioner. I intended to learn new skills to use in my leadership and to be a better communicator. But to master these skills, you go first through extensive self-exploration, healing, and quite a change. I guess it depends on the person, the size, the depth, and the content of this change. This process made me realize that we are each like a world to itself and that it is amazing how well we are functioning, living, and creating together, with a limited awareness of ourselves, and of others. It was an eye-/heart-opening way for me to learn about myself from others, from relationships, and the environment around me.

Looking at this analogy in these two aspects, which could represent a macro and micro level of the ‘world together’, I see it as a possible platform for mutual learning and understanding – for the exchange of knowledge, for opening up to each other, for releasing fears, pains, expectations, and (mis)perceptions, for deepening the trust and connections, for creating a place and space for the improvement, and development. It is empowering, and freeing. I see it could be a new modus operandi for co-creating the world being a better place, for all of us, in a very natural and fulfilling way.