Doors Begin to Open When We Let Go of Our Assumptions

Anything is possible when we let of old concepts and conclusions

Sometimes, I feel like I’m living in a hall of mirrors. Everywhere I look I see myself looking everywhere looking at myself looking — kind of like that physicist who explained that the universe was curved and if you looked long enough through a powerful enough telescope into the far reaches of space you would eventually see your own butt.

What follows is one of those reflections in one of those mirrors.

On February 22nd, 2020, I arrived in Melbourne, Australia. My mission? To teach 34 teachers and senior leaders at Al Siraat College (a K-12 Islamic school) how to establish high performing teams. I had only 30 days to accomplish my task in a series of eight, 90-minute workshops with people from at least ten different ethnic groups.

This being my fifth, one-month residency at the school in the past three years, I was, by this time, a known entity, a member of the tribe, mostly trusted, and the future author of A Thousand Muslims and a Jew.