131. When Building is Being: Shariff Abdullah, author of ‘Practicing Wisdom,’ [reads] ‘The Timeless Way of Building’

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I had two quite different experiences of a library when I was a child. My school’s librarian quite liked books but didn’t really like kids. I was basically scared away from that space. Luckily, my local library was a whole other adventure. There was the kid’s section upstairs where I could wander the stacks and find books I might like, and then came that moment when you go down and dip your toes into the grown-up section below, which opened up many new worlds. Books open up worlds, and libraries help you stumble over the books you never knew you would love, until you did. 

Shariff Abdullah is the Director of the Commonway Institute, an organization that seeks to create a world that works for all. He’s well-educated, was a lawyer, is an author, has traveled the world, and has worked in over 120 different cultures across 45 different countries. It’s an impressive resume for someone who was raised in, according to Shariff, America’s worst city. Get‌ ‌book‌ ‌links‌ ‌and‌ ‌resources‌ ‌at‌ https://www.mbs.works/2-pages-podcast/ 

Shariff reads two pages from ‘The Timeless Way of Building’ by Christopher Alexander. [reading begins at 25:35]  

Hear us discuss: 

“When I was 8 years old, I not only figured out that there is something fundamentally wrong with our society, but that we can change it if we actually want to.” [2:50] | Maintaining an open-hearted perspective. [7:27] | Identifying and practicing your version of perfection: “There is a win for all, but if what I want in my world is for you to lose, we’ll never get to that point.” [32:16] | Living beyond our individuality. [40:39]