I was invited to give key the keynote address at Alberta’s provincial restorative justice conference “Fostering A Restorative Worldview.” As part of my preparation, I researched the origins of each “restorative” and “worldview.” I first drew from my research in Worldview Skills and started with the root of the word ‘worldview’ which comes from the German word “weltanschauung” and means “a comprehensive conception or image of the universe and humanity’s relationship to it.” This understanding of worldview is echoed in Thomas Berry’s definition, “A worldview is how a given culture sees its relationship to the rest of the universe, its creation at the beginning of time, and its beliefs about how human affairs should best fit into the bigger picture.”

Next, I investigated the word “restorative” and found one interesting definition, “that which restores; especially something to restore consciousness after a fainting fit.” This, of course led me to a definition of “faint” which includes, “to lose consciousness,” “to fail in courage or hope;” and “to grow weak, without enthusiasm or energy.” Perhaps, I thought, we can reframe our global situation to a collective fainting fit and all we need are some smelling salts to regain consciousness.

Indeed, when I looked up “smelling salts,” the definitions are: “a restorative” and “a means of restoring a person to consciousness.” Piecing these three words together shed a new light on the conference title. From this new perspective, “Fostering A Restorative Worldview” entails helping grow consciousness about our view of the world, each other and ourselves. Now we are getting somewhere interesting. At the conference this led to a rich discussion about what are the smelling salts of our times? How does growth and change happen? Perhaps, the values embedded in the definition of a fainting spell (consciousness, courage, hope, enthusiasm and energy) could be the smelling salts of our times. The next day we explored Rattlesnake Lessons About Change.

Keynote Addresses