Meeting up with Friends & Seeing Wildlife Up Close

This week I had a chance to meet with a couple of friends I've made over the years who are involved in organizational and leadership development work. Earlier in the week I had dinner with Nick Freeman and his wife Min. I met Nick in Boulder this past year at the Integral Leadership in Action gathering-- he's doing great work helping organizations work to their full potential. And today I had the pleasure of re-connecting with Michael Hann and meeting his wife Emily, and their 6 mo Liam (pictured). Michael and I met around 2005 at a week long intensive workshop dedicated to an extraordinary theory/practice for systemic change, called Theory U/Presencing. I know that the Org Development world is pretty small, but nonetheless, I was still sort of surprised that that Michael and Nick are connected here in Sydney by a single degree of separation. Both are doing some great work on behalf of people and the planet... very inspiring!

Speaking of the planet, the guys and I spent a rainy Saturday afternoon in the Sydney Aquarium and the Sydney Wildlife World. I don't think the cute animal to the left needs any introduction. This particular Koala is doing what most Koala's spend 80% of their day doing... what a life!

Yes, the kangaroos are on the other side of a glass... I think they were willing to get that close in order to get out of the rain. These were the first ones I've seen up close... amazing animals! In fact, my feeling the whole day was one of amazement at the variety and wonder of creation. The animal and plant life of Australia is quite distinct from the rest of the world, due to a number of factors, including the timing of its split from the prehistoric landmass.

My favorite picture and moment of the day...

Sadly, we also got news this weekend about the fatal plane crash near Buffalo. This happened just a short distance from the homes of people I know. Again, I think of how small the world is, and how close knit the community is in Buffalo. Maybe it takes tragedies like this one and that of the wildfires here in Australia, or Katrina, or the Tsunami, or even the economic crisis to discover how interconnected and increasingly interdependent we are.