Five Questions with Cornelius Pietzner

What Makes You Come Alive?

"All real living is meeting"- Martin Buber, is a sentence that more or less sums up what makes me feel alive. The kind of meeting implied here is of the deeper kind, beyond the chit chat of everyday life, and where one feels that something essential, perhaps even eternal, is taking place. To have a deep human encounter, wherever, whenever and with whomever, is a profoundly rewarding and inspiring event that nourishes both the soul and spirit. As Goethe writes in his fairy tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily, 'it is conversation that is even more quickening than light, and light is more glorious than gold' (my paraphrase). Ultimately, the idea of spiritual friendship that supports creativity and positive action is a gift and a blessing, and in my life has led to things more substantial than what I alone could have managed. I have also been blessed with always being able to do work that has fully corresponded with my own values , whether living and working in intentional community together with people with special needs, working at the Goetheanum in Switzerland which is the worldwide center of the Anthroposophical Society and the various initiatives arising from the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (for example Waldorf Schools, bio dynamic agriculture, alternative holistic medicine, purpose-related social business and banking and more) and later my work in impact investing and then with Mind & Life Europe, which offered me exposure to the Buddhist community through the Dalai Lama, who founded Mind & Life together with the neuro-scientist Francisco Varela. The alignment of values, intention, attention and action combined with service (don't worry, I have never been a martyr of any kind) has simply helped me avoid schisms between my inner life and my outer life.

Pivotal turning point in your life?

I've been around long enough to have had a number of turning points in my life. I was born into and raised in an intentional community (Camphill), first in Northern Ireland, and later in the USA. Growing up with people from all over the world, and with people whose intellectual capacities were hindered, but whose soul and social capacities were often superior, gave me a foundation for tolerance and acceptance of "otherness", and a sense that each person has something valuable to contribute to the whole. I experienced my childhood as ideal, giving me space to roam and explore, both literally and figuratively. And this in turn created trust in and enthusiasm for life itself, and the basic goodness of people.As a young adult, caring for some teenagers with pronounced developmental disabilities, I realized that the primary challenge I had to face was to work on myself, as the mirror(s) that they reflected back to me about my own (dis)abilities required me to examine my own shortcomings. This opened the complex world of self-development and inner transformation as a key to working effectively with others, whether in business, social work or anywhere else for that matter. It has been an insight that has accompanied me ever since.

An Act of Kindness You'll Never Forget?

Sometimes seemingly small and trivial acts of kindness can have a long-lasting impact and carry a profound message. And there have been many! As a teenager I went barefoot alot. On a little walk one day, I met a man whom I knew, and we stopped to talk. I happened to admire his sandals, Birkenstocks, which at the time were a new thing. Without saying a word, and to my great surprise, he simply took them off, and gave them to me. We parted, he barefoot, and me with new sandals. That stuck with me, because of his non-attachment to things, and him wanting to give me a joy. I have taken it as a life-lesson.Or when hitchhiking around Europe when that still seemed possible so many years ago, I was given an address by an acquaintance of some distant relatives he had in Paris, where I was headed. Upon arriving there unannounced, I was taken in so warmly by a family of modest means- but many persons-and invited to a lovely meal and overnight in a bed which meant that one family member had to sleep on the couch, that I was overwhelmed, and embarrassed by their kindness. The pure generosity to a stranger seemed of biblical proportions! I have taken this as an example that I try to emulate, and, I am afraid, not always successfully!

One Thing On Your Bucket List?

From time to time I have this idea to do something so out of my destiny stream as to be not me. Such as, work as a deckhand on a cargo ship for 3 months, sell my homegrown vegetables from a little boat in Cambodia, be a sheep shepherd in the Albanian mountains for a time, or live as a fish monger in the northwestern islands of Scotland for 6 months- that sort of thing. It is less important what it is, than that is so "out of character" as to seemingly belong to another life.

One-line Message for the World?

Find what you love to do, and go all in, as enthusiasm and gratitude make each of us happier and better, and are forces the world needs more of.