Not a mountain, but a hill. I stood at the top and had a 360° view of the world below me. I was amazed by the view. You always hope that you will see something wonderful when you have that opportunity but the splendor and peace that I experienced surpassed my expectations. I guess you can compare it to scuba diving. I used to dive, many knee surgeries ago, there is something that happens under water - everything goes away. All you hear are the occasional bubbles that escape your mouth and rhythmic breathing - and there's just something about it. There are no sounds of people, no phones ringing, no TVs blaring, no cars, just a dense quiet.

And there are no sounds of hatred - that was a big, huge noticeable thing to me. That is what it felt like when I was hiking in the desert, by myself, the other day - when I climbed my hill. There was no sound of hatred. I wonder if there is a way to capture that and bring it into our reality. The peace that is available in nature. Is there a way to weave this into our daily lives? To capture it, to bottle it, to distribute it? How can we do that? How can I do that?




I recently read something on one of the networks in which I participate: there was a general bashing of the fact that a world leader was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize after only nine months of holding a significant public office. Another participant responded with, "Isn't it time to stop blaming, isn't it time to look to the future and see what we can do, as humans, to find greater peace?" And I would have to agree. Somehow, this peace that is still left in the frontier of the world --> I would have to believe/hope that there is a possibility, a way to capture it and distribute it.

We think all the time of ways to develop a product, to distribute and sell a product, how to have that product be number one in its market place. Why can't our product be peace? Why can't it be non-hate? The word "love" gets such a bad rap because it's wrapped in so many different contexts and, really, the word is never done justice. Maybe we can just translate it and call it "non-hate" instead. Then maybe we can open our minds and open our thoughts. Maybe we can listen with some sense of rationality.

There are those that lack the ability to think rational thoughts. They get so caught up in what they think and what they believe that there is no opportunity for rational thought to be brought into play, to be part of the conversation. And really, what is rationality? When it comes down to it, rationality creates an even playing field. No walls are being built as soon as somebody starts to talk about something that you don't understand. You're not putting your hand up and saying, "Talk to the hand." You are not allowing your prejudices to get in the way.

Irrationality keeps you from growing and developing. Would you do that in product development? Of course not. If someone with a brilliant mind in science or technology came to you and said, "Hey, I have a great idea..." and they had a better way to create the next widget, would you listen to them? With a rational, open mind? If you wanted your product to be the best in the market, yes, you would and fervently. Do you think the leaders at Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Twitter or Facebook sit there and say, "No, we like it the way it is, we don't want it to be better..." ?

People development vs. product development. How can you make it better? Think about it..., rationally.

by rayannethorn