We go about our lives, interacting with loved ones, friends, colleagues, and strangers. Our actions impact others and, yet, we are not always conscious of that impact.

On the first leg of my journey earlier this year to Fiji, Sebastian Siegel sat down in the seat next to me. We talked and, as we parted, he mentioned the name of a documentary that he had filmed. I jotted the name inside the cover of the book I was reading. This summer, after that adventure and yet another to Zulu Nyala, a private game reserve in South Africa, I finally got around to ordering the video. Watching it this past weekend startled me (over and over).

Awakening World delivers the mechanism for becoming more mindful in our interactions with others. Sebastian poses a variety of questions to people from all walks of life. What is love? What is the purpose of life? What is hell? What is intimacy? What is heaven? I laughed, cried, and sometimes had to remember to breathe while watching this documentary. The answers were heartfelt and enlightening and, yet, differed significantly. Some of their words resonated much more deeply than I had expected.

I realized that there are no right or wrong answers; our thoughts about these matters are personal and result from our vantage points in life. As I watched this thought-provoking film and pondered my own answers to Sebastian’s questions, I found that, already, my own thoughts about each were changing. Not yet fully awakened, I am certainly well into the becoming awakened phase. This filmmaker has inspired me to become more mindful as I connect with others. I encourage you to take the first step and join him in this journey.

I have often shared books that positively impacted my life with my family, friends, and students. I will be sharing copies of Awakening World with them. Thanks to Sebastian for being part of the reason that my life, once again, is changing for the better. I anxiously await the next installment, Spirit of Evolution.