I was asked to say a few words of thanks to David Emerson for spending some time with the CJS group last evening. I did this in the context of a parable...
We have a few acres on a lake north of Whistler. Every year in the fall around this time, on the property at the lake, our attention is drawn to a physical manifestation of the concept of excellence. For us it is one of the year’s highlights. Not just for something that is good, but for something that is great.
It is matsutake 松茸, and as many here will know, the Japanese have a saying that captures this sense of the superlative - kaori matsutake, aji shimeji 香り松茸味しめじ.
In the search for this excellence, timing is everything. It’s easy to be in the right place, but if it’s not the right time, you’ll come up empty.
Even if you are in the right place at the right time, unless you know what you’re looking for, you’ll walk right by it.
Some of us have been walking in the B.C. woods for many years - in Tourism - in Resources - but are just now beginning to explore new areas where there is *kaori matsutake*. I’m talking about Technology. I’m talking about Aerospace.
David Emerson's presentation tonight was bold and comprehensive and I thank him:
For reminding us that we are in the right place and that now is the right time.
For reminding us what it is that can be ours if we stoop down and pick it up, and
For reminding us that there are other changes afoot in the woods as well:
- That we should not just sell stuff, but engage in reciprocal direct investment,
- That we should work to manage global value chains and networks,
- That we should invest in physical and human capital footprints in strategic markets.
Thank you David for reminding us to think strategically and to think boldly - if a bit differently - in our walk through these woods this fall.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
WLJ suggests... fulfillment
I will be searching various components of my pysche, on a sort of journey of discovery, to clearly determine those elements of life which are paramount, and even critical. You are correct that in my world, Qi Gong has come to be a great influence, as the "engine" of introspection., and solace for the mind.
While reading your reply, the first word which came to me as the epitome of life, is fulfillment.
Happiness, as you say, is many things to many people, and one's happiness could well be another's pain, such as in the case of unrequited affection. Notice I avoid the word "love", which is so carelessly used as to be meaningless.
- B
While reading your reply, the first word which came to me as the epitome of life, is fulfillment.
Happiness, as you say, is many things to many people, and one's happiness could well be another's pain, such as in the case of unrequited affection. Notice I avoid the word "love", which is so carelessly used as to be meaningless.
- B
is it 'happiness' then?
This blog started as an e-mail to a few different folks. I was (and still am) trying to figure out how to present or incorporate the replies.
My objective, other than hopefully drawing a bit of a map that some might find useful, is to create a parable. A parable is a brief, succinct story that illustrates a moral, so this is the part of course that I have to add. You will ask what the moral of the story is, and where I'm heading with this.
So far, I'm thinking to craft the parable in such a way that it illustrates what
the primary objective in life for each of us should be. Of course we each determine our own answer, but is there one that can be 'recommended' and for which a map can be provided? The top candidate for me is actually "happiness". Of course "happiness" can be different things for different people, and might perhaps change for an individual at different stages of life. My view is that we shouldn't
accept someone else's answer, for example "To glorify God and enjoy him forever". That's too easy and if it really hasn't been appropriated, won't help in a crunch.
I may not agree with what you are doing or how you are doing it, but with a few exceptions, I should let you do it without undue criticism if you are truly happy in that quest.
So then with this as the objective, the starting point would be for each of us to first clearly define what happiness is at the particular place in the journey where we are, and then (the point of the parable) understand that and how our daily actions in the boxes and under the balloon engines, will help us achieve the goal. I liked B's choice of words below with the balloons being "engines".
Do you want to be flying high and seeing the big picture? Do you want to fly low, follow the terrain and zero in on the details? What should you jettison in order to gain altitude, if that is where you need to be to be happy. Are you happy spending all your time in the 'work' box, focusing on the 'work' balloon, for example? Should one strive for balance among the boxes? Why?
I also agree with B's ranking of the boxes - family first. This sure isn't the case with some (apparently) successful business people, for example, but if they seem to be quite happy in spite of it and don't want to change, those around them should perhaps just accept that and get used to it.
For some, I know that God looms quite large in the picture. Does this serve a similar function as Qi Gong does for B?
So in my parable, do I suggest that a belief in God or Qi Gong might be presented as
the air through which one is flying? Is Qi Gong a tool that you have in your kit bag which you take out from time to time to help you service the engine? Maybe God is an interior designer who helps you arrange the stuff in your boxes. I'm sure some people actually have built a church box & balloon - dragging them down or lifting them up depending on the amount of time they spend there. I suspect the reality is that it could be any of these things for someone. It is simply how your
map looks.
Of course all this is predicated on 'happiness' being the objective. If this is not the case, what is a helpful alternative?
My objective, other than hopefully drawing a bit of a map that some might find useful, is to create a parable. A parable is a brief, succinct story that illustrates a moral, so this is the part of course that I have to add. You will ask what the moral of the story is, and where I'm heading with this.
So far, I'm thinking to craft the parable in such a way that it illustrates what
the primary objective in life for each of us should be. Of course we each determine our own answer, but is there one that can be 'recommended' and for which a map can be provided? The top candidate for me is actually "happiness". Of course "happiness" can be different things for different people, and might perhaps change for an individual at different stages of life. My view is that we shouldn't
accept someone else's answer, for example "To glorify God and enjoy him forever". That's too easy and if it really hasn't been appropriated, won't help in a crunch.
I may not agree with what you are doing or how you are doing it, but with a few exceptions, I should let you do it without undue criticism if you are truly happy in that quest.
So then with this as the objective, the starting point would be for each of us to first clearly define what happiness is at the particular place in the journey where we are, and then (the point of the parable) understand that and how our daily actions in the boxes and under the balloon engines, will help us achieve the goal. I liked B's choice of words below with the balloons being "engines".
Do you want to be flying high and seeing the big picture? Do you want to fly low, follow the terrain and zero in on the details? What should you jettison in order to gain altitude, if that is where you need to be to be happy. Are you happy spending all your time in the 'work' box, focusing on the 'work' balloon, for example? Should one strive for balance among the boxes? Why?
I also agree with B's ranking of the boxes - family first. This sure isn't the case with some (apparently) successful business people, for example, but if they seem to be quite happy in spite of it and don't want to change, those around them should perhaps just accept that and get used to it.
For some, I know that God looms quite large in the picture. Does this serve a similar function as Qi Gong does for B?
So in my parable, do I suggest that a belief in God or Qi Gong might be presented as
the air through which one is flying? Is Qi Gong a tool that you have in your kit bag which you take out from time to time to help you service the engine? Maybe God is an interior designer who helps you arrange the stuff in your boxes. I'm sure some people actually have built a church box & balloon - dragging them down or lifting them up depending on the amount of time they spend there. I suspect the reality is that it could be any of these things for someone. It is simply how your
map looks.
Of course all this is predicated on 'happiness' being the objective. If this is not the case, what is a helpful alternative?
WLJ notes...
You made me put on my thinking cap, and isolate myself to perform self-analysis which encompases all of life. Heavy stuff, but stimulating, and essential if one is to understand existance, purpose, and the great unknown.
I found it necessary to read your analogies several times, so that I could even partially grasp where they might lead, and their critical nature to permit us to sort out where we have been, where we are now, and how the future may unfold. I do believe each one of us is the prime architect of our fate, and all other factors & influences but props along the way. I am able to see how you are reaching out in a way that I have not seen before, and not only are you correct to do this, but it is your responsibility.
The balloons are the engines for the boxes, and need to be tended & nourished to sustain their loads. The two are inseparable, for if either fails, disaster strikes. Trite, I know.
The largest & most important box is family, and therefore requires the largest baloon. Family is your ultimate refuge - friends are capable of deserting you, and often do, but family is constant, ever-loving and foregiving. So construct this box strongly and carefully, to sustain you when others fail. We live on through our children, so a childless person runs the risk of being truly barren
The second box is work. Life would be empty and useless without a mission to try and leave the world just a little bit better than we found it. So this box must also be built upon a firm foundation to be able to fend off life's slings & arrows. Similarly, work's baloon requires constant adjustments and fine tuning within changing times and influences. We only find comfort and contentment when we recognize our personal limitations, and always keep within attainable parameters. To reach for the impossible star is to invite chaos & disaster. There will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
No person is an island, so interaction with friends and aquaintances is inescapable. Therefore the third box, and the smallest balloon, is to contain and nurture your friends, colleagues, and those for whom you share comfort, dreams, procreation, and this thing commomly referred to as love. The latter can be all-encompassing but also has the very real potential to change and desert you when you need it most. So love fully, but without compromise of your essential being. To thine own self be true.
- B
I found it necessary to read your analogies several times, so that I could even partially grasp where they might lead, and their critical nature to permit us to sort out where we have been, where we are now, and how the future may unfold. I do believe each one of us is the prime architect of our fate, and all other factors & influences but props along the way. I am able to see how you are reaching out in a way that I have not seen before, and not only are you correct to do this, but it is your responsibility.
The balloons are the engines for the boxes, and need to be tended & nourished to sustain their loads. The two are inseparable, for if either fails, disaster strikes. Trite, I know.
The largest & most important box is family, and therefore requires the largest baloon. Family is your ultimate refuge - friends are capable of deserting you, and often do, but family is constant, ever-loving and foregiving. So construct this box strongly and carefully, to sustain you when others fail. We live on through our children, so a childless person runs the risk of being truly barren
The second box is work. Life would be empty and useless without a mission to try and leave the world just a little bit better than we found it. So this box must also be built upon a firm foundation to be able to fend off life's slings & arrows. Similarly, work's baloon requires constant adjustments and fine tuning within changing times and influences. We only find comfort and contentment when we recognize our personal limitations, and always keep within attainable parameters. To reach for the impossible star is to invite chaos & disaster. There will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
No person is an island, so interaction with friends and aquaintances is inescapable. Therefore the third box, and the smallest balloon, is to contain and nurture your friends, colleagues, and those for whom you share comfort, dreams, procreation, and this thing commomly referred to as love. The latter can be all-encompassing but also has the very real potential to change and desert you when you need it most. So love fully, but without compromise of your essential being. To thine own self be true.
- B
of boxes and balloons
Someone close to me was in Morocco recently and heard a story about how we each have 3 balloons helping us fly in life. Work, family and friends. If one has trouble, we still fly but maybe a bit lower. If two or three loose air, this is trouble, and we cannot fly.
This reminded me of a box analogy I sometimes use to encourage people to strive for balance in their lives by putting work issues 'in a box" for example, when they leave work. In this way, we can better enjoy home and family or activities with friends as separate activities without the (sometimes) negative impact of the cares of one or another box becoming too pervasive. It's about balance.
I began to think about how the box analogy might fit with the balloon analogy. How they might be related and how the resulting model would look. I decided to write some of these ideas down and also challenge others (initially friends and family) to come up with a new facet or maybe an example from their lives. I'm interested in seeing if this might provide a helpful model or be of use as a kind of life map.
In this expanded parable, each of the balloons has a 'box' hanging below it where we each spend our time.
The boxes are hanging under the balloons and there is a relationship between the boxes and the balloons. At first in life, our boxes are relatively small and of simple construction. The main job of the person in the box is to make sure that the balloon is inflated. As time passes, things get more complex. We pass over beautiful landscapes or troubled waters. Sometimes we might ground out for awhile. Sometimes we fly high. Some people never really seem to getoff the ground.
For each person, the three boxes are side by side and one can easily jump from one to another. Of course the boxes each have other people and things in them, and if one doesn't spend a certain amount of time in a particular box, the space gets filled up by stuff from the other people who might be in that box. In this case, different things might happen. The box might get heavier and drag the whole contraption down. Depending on the size and weight of the stuff in the box, the space in the box gets 'taken over' and there might not be any room left. In these cases one would 'feel alienated' or 'feel like astranger'...
Of course the skies are filled with balloons and boxes. Some people manouver their balloons next to each other. Sometimes they actually clamp their boxes together. Depending on the circumstances, this can be an uplifting experience. Sometimes they drag each other down.
Sometimes, someone else will bring a small thing into one of your boxes. At first it might not look like much. In fact, you might not even notice it, but if it is real heavy, you might begin to loose altitude and not know why.
In certain cases a particular box might be shared with others to the extent that their balloons might help keep yours airborne. You might actually have an occasional 'uplifting' experience. This is useful if you are approaching an obstacle such as a mountain range that your balloons alone might not be able to rise above.
Just like in a real balloon, you can't really direct where you will end up. You try to predict based on wind and weather and of course you can control altitude to some extent by getting one balloon to really perform well or by jettisoning some stuff out of one or anotherbox.
So the question here is to see if others will find this analogyto be interesting or helpful. I'm looking for more examples of facets to grow the analogy or triggers to practical examples from your life. For example, if you don't spend time in a box, it will fill up withother things and there will be no room for you (worst case scenario -no friends, no family, no job).
This reminded me of a box analogy I sometimes use to encourage people to strive for balance in their lives by putting work issues 'in a box" for example, when they leave work. In this way, we can better enjoy home and family or activities with friends as separate activities without the (sometimes) negative impact of the cares of one or another box becoming too pervasive. It's about balance.
I began to think about how the box analogy might fit with the balloon analogy. How they might be related and how the resulting model would look. I decided to write some of these ideas down and also challenge others (initially friends and family) to come up with a new facet or maybe an example from their lives. I'm interested in seeing if this might provide a helpful model or be of use as a kind of life map.
In this expanded parable, each of the balloons has a 'box' hanging below it where we each spend our time.
The boxes are hanging under the balloons and there is a relationship between the boxes and the balloons. At first in life, our boxes are relatively small and of simple construction. The main job of the person in the box is to make sure that the balloon is inflated. As time passes, things get more complex. We pass over beautiful landscapes or troubled waters. Sometimes we might ground out for awhile. Sometimes we fly high. Some people never really seem to getoff the ground.
For each person, the three boxes are side by side and one can easily jump from one to another. Of course the boxes each have other people and things in them, and if one doesn't spend a certain amount of time in a particular box, the space gets filled up by stuff from the other people who might be in that box. In this case, different things might happen. The box might get heavier and drag the whole contraption down. Depending on the size and weight of the stuff in the box, the space in the box gets 'taken over' and there might not be any room left. In these cases one would 'feel alienated' or 'feel like astranger'...
Of course the skies are filled with balloons and boxes. Some people manouver their balloons next to each other. Sometimes they actually clamp their boxes together. Depending on the circumstances, this can be an uplifting experience. Sometimes they drag each other down.
Sometimes, someone else will bring a small thing into one of your boxes. At first it might not look like much. In fact, you might not even notice it, but if it is real heavy, you might begin to loose altitude and not know why.
In certain cases a particular box might be shared with others to the extent that their balloons might help keep yours airborne. You might actually have an occasional 'uplifting' experience. This is useful if you are approaching an obstacle such as a mountain range that your balloons alone might not be able to rise above.
Just like in a real balloon, you can't really direct where you will end up. You try to predict based on wind and weather and of course you can control altitude to some extent by getting one balloon to really perform well or by jettisoning some stuff out of one or anotherbox.
So the question here is to see if others will find this analogyto be interesting or helpful. I'm looking for more examples of facets to grow the analogy or triggers to practical examples from your life. For example, if you don't spend time in a box, it will fill up withother things and there will be no room for you (worst case scenario -no friends, no family, no job).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
