new experience
Change is the essence of life. With change come new experiences. Every new experience is an opportunity to learn, grow and create, but it’s also accompanied with uncertainties and unknowns. How we embrace new experience depends on how we see it.
don’t acknowledge
Generally, we are comfortable doing what we are as long as it’s serving our purpose in the present context and even if it’s not, it’s not easy to come out of our comfort zones. At times we don’t even know also how to change and let go the old ways of doing and seeing things. Therefore, we tend to avoid any new experience that requires change.
acknowledge
Acknowledgement comes with the awareness. In order to acknowledge the new experience or an idea, we need to be aware of its importance i.e. how the new experience will enhance our knowledge and capabilities to create what we truly desire. If we can see a linkage between the new experience and the personal vision, acknowledgement takes place faster. Acknowledgment needs a strong pull force.
anger & pain
With acknowledgement we also come face-to-face with our own limitations and incapabilities - limitations of our existing knowledge and skills. As we struggle with our own incompetence and blocks, fears of unknown in the new experience adds to the tension. All this leads to lot of disturbance and pain within.
chaos
Disturbance and turmoil further leads to chaos. We are not able to make out what is going on and how to tackle it and from where. We don’t see any structure evolving out of the current situation. This is the phase when we start feeling helpless. Lot of uncertainties and ambiguity mark this phase. This is the time to hang on…and keep taking small steps.
unlearning & openness
Unlearning is not reframing or refreezing something, but letting go of what we have already learned or acquired. The process of unlearning is about liberation or freedom from the conditioning or from the known.
A seed would only germinate if it ceases to be a seed. Once we remove our blinders, the world becomes quite different and new. Therefore, during unlearning the focus is on emptying and creating an opening. Once openness is experienced, learning and creativity become easier.
When we view the situation from the larger and broader perspective, we see lot of new opportunities. We find that most of our limits were self-imposed and they get dissolved with the letting go of our earlier mental models, behavior and habits.
With this openness, we see the world full of new opportunities and are tempted to explore them. We are free again. New possibilities emerge with the letting go of our past knowledge and experiences.
Life is simplified and joyful during this moment of creation. This leads to heightened confidence and accelerated learning.
choose
This is the phase when we choose from the different new possibilities that has emerged. To choose is a difficult task, but must for moving ahead.
action
It is the phase of creating things. As we invent actions to bring our creation into being, we begin to develop an instinct for actions that work best.
The understanding of this process is based on Prasad Kaipa’s work on learning