Our pale blue dot - compassion and my latest article in 'Coaching at Work'
My article on ‘Our pale blue dot’ was published in Coaching at Work, March/April 2018 edition.
American astronomer, cosmologist and astrophysicist Carl Sagan coined the concept of the ‘pale blue dot’, which for me summarises both our insignificance and how important we are to the task of taking care of our world.
He wrote that ‘[Earth is] a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam ….. Rivers of blood [have been] spilled by generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot’. In the same vein, it seems that those who influence the course of world events with poor behaviour implicitly legitimise such behaviour.
This perspective has made me think about my role as coach: I’ve realised that I can’t separate my coaching delivery from the impact on my world view of our political leaders and their behaviour, especially when they behave badly – without honesty, respect or integrity.
Sagan’s philosophy seems fitting to bring to my coaching: we need to prioritise compassion towards each other and the planet that we and future generations depend on.
For a pdf of the article please e-mail me at lw@lindsaywittenberg.co.uk or if you’re a subscriber to Coaching at Work, see it online here
Photo by Mikhail Kryshen via Compfight
