Thoughts about Nurturing the Human Spirit in the Workplace

In the workplace, most notably in industrialized nations, we seem to have forgotten that we are all human beings having a common human experience. We spend as much time with each other at work, or more, than we do with our own families, and yet we've become conditioned to relate to one another at arm's length, and to create separate identities for our personal, public and professional selves.

There are those who believe (alarmists? visionaries?) who believe we face anhiliation as a species, as a world. We have reached a crisis in our evolution, where greed, corruption, technology, nuclear weaponry, have reached global dimensions. As such, we are increasingly developing consciousness on a global scale that something drastic must happen to stem the tide of our destruction -- and an antidote found for the poison of our reality. Some call that antidote "love."

It has been said that if we can transform corporate consciousness, we can transform the world. But it's not just up to the leaders -- the CEOs. Some might argue that a bottom-line leader consciousness is too far gone to be healed by conventional means. What must begin is change being made on a societal level by us -- we -- the denizens of the workplace. Some of us have come to see "work" as a spiritual exercise, and one by one, as we embrace each moment of our work day as a preciously carved instant, only then can we change the mindset of that "thing," that artifically created concept, called "the corporation."

According to Judi Neal, executive director for the Association for Spirit at Work, "In a higher level of consciousness, businesses are seen as the best institution for the human race to "see our interconnectedness with all things and to use the talent, money and global reach of business to make a positive difference in the world."

More from Judi Neal: "Spirituality in the workplace is about people seeing their work . . . as an opportunity to grow personally and to contribute to society in a meaningful way. It is about learning to be more caring and compassionate with fellow employees, with bosses, with subordinates and customers. It is about integrity, being true to one's self and telling the truth to others. It means attempting to live your values more fully in your work. It can refer to the ways in which organizations structure themselves to support the spiritual development of employees."