“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water,
yet nothing can resist it.”
― Lao Tzu
We are different in so many ways and yet, there is expansive common ground to be discovered.
When we use force or fear to motivate or dominate, we create scars that are hard to heal; especially if they are constantly reopened. That is oppression.
When we abandon the use of traditional, inflexible power structures in pursuit of community, we heal and unleash the full potential of the human being.
I am reading and listening to a new book by Peter Block, ‘Activating the Common Good – Reclaiming Control of Our Collective Well-Being’. It seems to be calling me to pull the content deep into my heart. ‘Tis the season.
The message of this book is: “An inspiring call to create a society that gives first priority to the common good, with an accessible means to achieve it through relational activism.”
This is the call I have been listening to and following for my entire life.
I don’t accept the fractiousness or polarization of our society. I know and have experienced how to bridge the differences of our political views. I reject that some of this narrative is manufactured for us assuming that we will blindly follow without questioning or challenging.
I know that there is deeply felt pain. I know that we have inflicted unimaginable trauma.
I want to break the cycle of pain and the structure of power over.
Please don’t misunderstand this to be a political statement. It is a human stance. A commitment to finding the best in each individual and facilitating the synergy of our potential relationships.
I turn sixty-five in 2023 at the very end of the year. Somehow it feels like a watershed moment. A time for sweeping change in my life, my work, and my relationships.
To arrive at the age that signaled retirement for my parent’s generation, I feel energized to step up, stand up, and speak up for what I know and feel to be purposeful. I am joining the forces of the unretired to renew my commitment to working harder at finding ways to connect and repair disconnections.
Peter Block recognizes that the work of the common good often occurred in the non-profit and community sectors. He advocates that it has a place in business. In fact, it can be the mandate of business — caring for the well-being of the collective. When we do, a natural and replenishing energy moves us forward.
I trust this.
I know it not to be a political position but a set of values that have guided me and have contributed to my well-being and my ability to contribute to the well-being of others.
I trust abundance. I trust generosity. I trust finding and unleashing the potential of every person. I trust that there is a path for solution for every gnarly human condition — if we include the whole system in our effort.
I recommit and double down on my fundamental beliefs that people are basically good, well-intentioned, able to learn if they want to, and capable of more than we can understand. I know that groups collectively know more than I do and have rich competences from life experiences. It is not mine to lecture but to uncork and illuminate.
I am not so much a ‘Pollyanna’ that I don’t see aberrant behavior and danger. I do. I just don’t give it all my time and attention.
• Will you join me in Activating the Common Good?
• What piece of the Common Good is your passion?
All the tools in my consulting tool kit have been moving me in this direction. When I think I can motivate another person, it is not hard to let go of habits reflective of hierarchy and of the over-assertion of ego. I realize the process is simple: create the conditions for them, discover their strengths, and guide their experience of success.
I am always curious why some individuals cling to forms and uses of power that create motion but extinguish trust and healthy relationships. It may work for the short term but in the long run, it weakens sustainable outcomes.
I have struggled to read a book cover-to-cover during the pandemic. I spent so much time reading on my laptop that what was a way to relax and was enjoyment and even a reward is no longer a preferred pastime.
However, the books that hold my interest are not long or weighty. Their messages carry hope and actionable, common-sense practices that help me to make sense of the things that keep me awake at night.
As I listen to the audio of Peter Blocks book as the background to my day, I realize that another book sits beside my bed, David Brook’s newest book entitled ‘How to Know a Person – The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Seen Deeply’.
I now recognize that I am consciously feeding my mind content that will support my reinvention of my self into nonretirement. It isn’t so difficult to want to continue to work if it is not just work – but instead a purpose that wakes me up every day feeling like there is more to do, and that I can make a contribution and maybe a difference.
• What are you filling your mind with? Good books? Ways of fueling your purpose?
Peter Block says that I am reclaiming control of my well-being. I can use my time and relationships to contribute to our shared concerns. He calls it relational activism.
Wow! A new title for me to try on for size. I am a Relational Activist.
• Who are you becoming?
• How can we join forces for what matters most to you?
I suddenly feel excited about leaping into the New Year!
Leslie
“Any new beginning is forged from the shards of the past,
not from the abandonment of the past..”
— Crag D. Lounsbrough
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