I'm writing this on a Monday, when all around the world people are protesting, fighting Covid-19, trying to make sense of recent events, and some are simply surviving. I hold all of you in my heart as I know we are the midst of a necessary shift and it is messy but worth it.
I'm trying something new… Will you join me? I've chosen the theme Deeper Connection Challenge because in these challenging times it's even more important to be curious, and not make assumptions about what's true, and not judge people for their actions. Now more than ever it's a time for us to be good listeners and be there for each other.
Trauma is a word that evokes pictures, often unpleasant pictures, of accidents, wars, violence. Pictures we wish we could erase from our consciouness, and sometimes do. I’ve always mostly associated it with physical pain, visible to the eye. Pain we can see. As I continue to stretch into new awareness and understanding I’m expanding that perspective and seeing the full spectrum of what trauma is. What it means, and the not so visible impact that trauma can have.
Dreaming is good, in fact it’s almost an essential part of living, at least to me. And it’s not about not being satisfied with what’s here now, it’s excitement about the possibilities that exist, the idea that life is dynamic and things are constantly changing, whether we want them to or not.
The problem is that there often seems to be this feeing that the time isn’t quite right, that I can’t go for it quite yet, I have to take another class, I have to learn more, I have to save more, I have to be a bit smarter, I have to look better, I have to know more people…and on it goes.
I was out for a walk with the dogs today, around a beautiful and quiet Vancouver neighbourhood when I heard the sound of screaming kids that actually startled me because they were screaming at me. I can’t call it yelling, it was shrill, the sound of over stimulated children who are losing any sense of propriety. No problem, it’s Saturday afternoon…I smiled to myself and felt lucky not to be in the car with them.
Until the next block when I heard the screaming again and then saw the van pulled up in front of a house.
It must be a dream, right? How could that possibly be my age?
My heart beats faster just thinking about it. What does that mean? Why does my heart race at the idea that I’m nearing 50? That I’ve been on the planet for nearly 50 years?!? Okay, now it’s beating really fast.
What’s different today? I’m one day older than I was yesterday. The other thing that is different is that I believe I am actually wiser. I’ve been really striving to be more conscious in life, to really savour my choices and be discerning about how I spend my time. Sometimes that’s hard, because I want to be in lots of places with lots of people and yet I know the dangers of spreading myself too thin.
This is what I know. Leaders need to be curious and they need to think like skiers. Skiers look for the open spaces. Open spaces are chock full of possibility. Trees and rocks and logs will stop us in our tracks, but the open spaces let us run free and discover. The open spaces are where we get to use our imaginations and create.
Back in the day, communities had barn raising events. A barn is a huge and somewhat complicated structure to build, and required a lot of people power, so the family that needed the barn would prepare and organize as much as possible in advance and on the chosen day loads of people from their community would show up to do the heavy lifting and hammering.
I'm fully exercising my curiosity this week by exploring a new place I have been curious about for many years, Haida Gwaii BC. Haida Gwaii (meaning land of the Haida) is an archipelago off the coast of BC and considered to be a magical and sacred place. I arrived last night and just drove to the end of a road where I found a pristine place to camp right by the water. I am super excited to learn about the area and Haida traditions and history.
This post is the first in a series to sneak a peak at what you will find in my new book about Curiosity, which will be available in print and e-book this summer! I will send out a new teaser each week or two and pretty soon there will be info on how to order. the book. Curiosity is more than a buzzword in education and leadership. It’s a way of being that we all have inside us, and when we let it out it makes life richer and a lot more fun. It also allows us to be more creative and innovative which in today’s world will help us stand out in a crowd.
It’s happened to all of us…more than once. We get the question, “if you could be any animal would what you be?” (and I include birds, fish, etc in possible answers) Well, we may know what we want to be, but what are we really? I mean, it’s cool to be a jaguar or a lion, or it would be wonderful to be a horse but I think we all embody the spirit and character of some species other than human, and it’s different for all of us. I happen to be an albatross.
