2 Morphology / Verb Conjugation / Activity 1

INSTRUCTIONS:
NOTES:
1. OPEN: Willing to Be Disturbed.
1. PRACTICE for about 15 minutes.
2. SELECT a paragraph.
2. MONITOR your time.
3. IDENTIFY the first verb.
3. STAY focused.
4. PRONOUNCE the verb.
4. CALL me for help.
5. SPELL the the verb.

6. CONJUGATE the verb.

Margaret
Wheatly
As we work together to restore hope to the future, we need to include a new and strange

ally—our willingness to be disturbed. Our willingness to have our beliefs and ideas

challenged by what others think. No one person or perspective can give us the answers we

need to the problems of today. Paradoxically, we can only find those answers by admitting

we don’t know. We have to be willing to let go of our certainty and expect ourselves to be

confused for a time.

confident, to state our opinion as if it were true. We haven’t been rewarded for being

confused. Or for asking more questions rather than giving quick answers. We’ve also spent

many years listening to others mainly to determine whether we agree with them or not. We

don’t have time or interest to sit and listen to those who think differently than we do.

P2
But the world now is quite perplexing. We no longer live in those sweet, slow days when life

felt predictable, when we actually knew what to do next. We live in a complex world, we

often don’t know what’s going on, and we won’t be able to understand its complexity

unless we spend more time in not knowing.

P3
It is very difficult to give up our certainties—our positions, our beliefs, our explanations.

These help define us; they lie at the heart of our personal identity. Yet I believe we will

succeed in changing this world only if we can think and work together in new ways.

Curiosity is what we need. We don’t have to let go of what we believe, but we do need to

be curious about what someone else believes. We do need to acknowledge that their way

of interpreting the world might be essential to our survival.

P4
We live in a dense and tangled global system. Because we live in different parts of this complexity, and

because no two people are physically identical, we each experience life differently. It’s impossible for any two

people to ever see things exactly the same. You can test this out for yourself. Take any event that you’ve

shared with others (a speech, a movie, a current event, a major problem) and ask your colleagues and friends

to describe their interpretation of that event. I think you’ll be amazed at how many different explanations

you’ll hear. Once you get a sense of diversity, try asking even more colleagues. You’ll end up with a rich

tapestry of interpretations that are much more interesting than any single one.

P5
To be curious about how someone else interprets things, we have to be willing to admit

that we’re not capable of figuring things out alone. If our solutions don’t work as well as we

want them to, if our explanations of why something happened don’t feel sufficient, it’s time

to begin asking others about what they see and think. When so many interpretations are

available, I can’t understand why we would be satisfied with superficial conversations

where we pretend to agree with one another.

P6
There are many ways to sit and listen for the differences. Lately, I’ve been listening for what

surprises me. What did I just hear that startled me? This isn’t easy – I’m accustomed to

sitting there nodding my head to those saying things I agree with. But when I notice what

surprises me, I’m able to see my own views more dearly, including my beliefs and

assumptions.

P7
Noticing what surprises and disturbs me has been a very useful way to see invisible beliefs.

If what you say surprises me, I must have been assuming something else was true. If what

you say disturbs me, I must believe something contrary to you. My shock at your position

exposes my own position. When I hear myself saying, “How could anyone believe

something like that?” a light comes on for me to see my own beliefs. These moments are

great gifts. If I can see my beliefs and assumptions, I can decide whether I still value them.

P8
I hope you’ll begin a conversation, listening for what’s new. Listen as best you can for what’s

different, for what surprises you. See if this practice helps you learn something new. Notice

whether you develop a better relationship with the person you’re talking with. If you try

this with several people, you might find yourself laughing in delight as you realize how

many unique ways there are to be human.

P9
We have the opportunity many times a day, everyday, to be the one who listens to others,

curious rather than certain. But the greatest benefit of all is that listening moves us closer.

When we listen with less judgment, we always develop better relationships with each other.

It’s not differences that divide us. It’s our judgments about each other that do. Curiosity

and good listening bring us back together.

P10
Sometimes we hesitate to listen for differences because we don’t want to change. We’re

comfortable with our lives, and if we listened to anyone who raised questions, we’d have to

get engaged in changing things. If we don’t listen, things can stay as they are and we won’t

have to expend any energy. But most of us do see things in our life or in the world that we

would like to be different. If that’s true, we have to listen more, not less. And we have to be

willing to move into the very uncomfortable place of uncertainty.

P11
We can’t be creative if we refuse to be confused. Change always starts with confusion;

cherished interpretations must dissolve to make way for the new. Of course, it’s scary to

give up what we know, but the abyss is where newness lives. Great ideas and inventions

miraculously appear in the space of not knowing. If we can move through the fear and

enter the abyss, we are rewarded greatly. We rediscover we’re creative.

P12
As the world grows more strange and puzzling and difficult, I don’t believe most of us want to keep struggling

through it alone, I can’t know what to do from my own narrow perspective. I know I need a better

understanding of what’s going on. I want to sit down with you and talk about all the frightening and hopeful

things I observe, and listen to what frightens you and gives you hope. I need new ideas and solutions for the

problems I care about. I know I need to talk to you to discover those. I need to learn to value your

perspective, and I want you to value mine. I expect to be disturbed by what I hear from you. I know we don’t

have to agree with each other in order to think well together. There is no need for us to be joined at the head.

We are joined by our human hearts.

P13