Finding a way to be happy together across boundaries of culture, location, race, age or gender seems to be a necessary evolutionary task in today’s world. When we create something together that is fun we do feel a spirit of connection and joy. When we solve difficult problems together we are proud as a team and slap each other on the back in a sense of achievement. Yet we tend to stick with our own kind and fear or avoid those who are different. But research around creativity show that the more diverse a group is the more innovative they can become – if they are able to open to each others’ ideas.
So I keep a look out for new initiatives that connect people across boundaries. This video is a wonderful example of this. It shows how one person , willing to look a little mad, has got people to dance with him all around the world. The rapid shift from one place and group to another, with Matt always there, gave me a strange feeling of being every place around the world at the same time – a dizzying sense of how alike we all are no matter who we are or where we are.
This video has gone viral – watched by over 40 million people around the world! I wonder why it is so appealing! And I wonder what I could do to be more open to people who are different from me, in my daily life?