Cornelia Walther has spent most of her professional career with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP). She was the head of communications in large-scale emergencies in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. She earned her PhD in Law and is a certified yoga instructor and her current work is a remarkable amalgam of her studies and her life’s journey.

In recent years, she developed POZE as a way of exploring the world to help uncover deeper levels of happiness. (POZE is an opening spiral that can stand for, among a few things, to Pause for a moment, Observe what’s going on around you, Zoom in on yourself, and Experience what is going on in the world.) These are wise and weighty thoughts and we thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with her.

We also discussed how we are all interconnected – that your world and my world may be very different, yet we share connections if we only give ourselves the chance to experience them. The hope is that we recognize this connectedness – both at a personal level and at a larger global level – and bring greater meaning and happiness to our lives through this connectedness.

One of our favorite lines from our discussion with Cornelia was this: “So driven was I by the craving for some thing or another, that I omitted to savor the beauty of now.” We all need to take a moment, pause, and savor the beauty of now.

© 2020 Behavioral Grooves

Links

Cornelia Walther: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corneliawalther/?originalSubdomain=ht

POZE: https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/the-source/blog/blogposts-communicating-research/sdg-interview-cornelia-walther-sustainability-holistic-perspect/17463138

Gary Latham, PhD, Episode 147: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/gary-latham-phd-goal-setting-prompts-priming-and-skepticism/

Creole Language: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creole_language

Brad Shuck, PhD, Episode 91: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/brad-shuck-being-ignored-is-worse-than-having-a-stapler-thrown-at-you/

Development, Humanitarian Aid and Social Welfare. Social Change from the Inside Out (May 2020): https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783030426095#aboutBook

Humanitarian Work, Social Change, and Human behavior. Compassion for Change (June 2020):https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783030458775

Development and Connection in times of Covid. Corona’s Call for Conscious Choices (October 2020): https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-53641-1

Social Change from the Inside Out. From Fixation to Foundation. From Competition to Change: https://rdcu.be/b9GrF

From Individual wellbeing to collective welfare: https://rb.gy/xsuauh

Musical Links

Pink “So What”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJfFZqTlWrQ

Verdi, “Aida”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3w4I-KElxQ

Dvorak, “Symphony of the New World”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_1N6_O254g

Beatles, “Don’t Let Me Down”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCtzkaL2t_Y&list=PLf9cCqxaRfcMcL5yU9UZDdNJwkDNbh3ce

Depeche Mode, “People Are People”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1FVmBHbPNg

Mariza, “Quem Me Dera”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sze5rpbklM

Ayub Ogada, “Kothbiro”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L48PCisRZ7s

Giberto Gil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECtYYiHbIcQ

Fabiano do Nascimento, “Nana”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4iukkBmDGg

Tim Sparks, “Klezmer Medley”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkiCFzWTYRg

Cornelia Walther on POZE: Pause, Observe, Zoom in, and Experience

Behavioral Grooves Podcast