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Neil Butcher's blog is a collection of musings on what openness really means for humanity around the world as we face challenges unlike any we have experienced in living memory. Rather than seeing challenges as a problem to be solved, Neil prefers to reflect on the opportunities they provide us for transformation and change, as we move to find our common humanity. The blog posts are strongly influenced by the 30 years that Neil has spent working in education systems around the world, where he has witnessed firsthand how capable we all are of hanging onto old mental models and constructs long after they have stopped being helpful to us. He believes that current geopolitical, economic, and educational developments will make this increasingly difficult, constantly challenging us in ever-increasing waves to let go of what does not work for us as a species and find compassion in everything we do, first for ourselves and then for all other people.

Flowers of the Drakensberg
28 March 2022

The rock you focus on is the one you crash into

I am not much of a mountain biker, but one thing I learned very early in my few outings on a mountain bike is that the more you focus on the rocks on your trail the more likely you are to crash into them. The alternative is not to ignore them, but to observe them and then identify the pathway around them – focusing your energy and attention on where you want to go rather than what you want to avoid.

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