Sparks
There are moments... of insight, of wonder, and sometimes of bewilderment. These sparks sometimes flash for a moment and are gone, sometimes glow brightly enough to illuminate some new or forgotten notion, and sometimes can provide the intensity and heat needed for real transformation.
Respect For People
Beyond resumes, certificates, and degrees, there are the more authentic measures of who a person is and how far they have come in this life. Respect for people means that we believe another person is worth knowing and genuinely want to know them.
Balance, Not Conquest
The battle in Star Wars is not between light and dark sides of the Force. It is actually between balance and conquest. The Jedi are always seeking to restore balance to the Force (not make the light side of the force dominate). If we look at our society (especially our professional work), so much of it is rooted in a colonial mindset – exploration leading to desire for control and eventually leading to exploitation (i.e. means to maintain and strengthen control). While this may lead to ambitious accomplishments and sharing of certain values and mindsets, it inherently devalues other values and mindsets. The role of the “jedi” is to constantly strive to see situations more clearly, be attuned to diverse value propositions, and act courageously when we have gone too far in one direction.
What have you done today to try to see life/work more clearly and restore some sort of balance?
Integration is Liberation
The ultimate goal is to be a conduit for some higher purpose in the world. Fear makes us defend andprioritize our own ego over something greater. When we prioritize my species, my race, my nation, my community, my family or team, myself, my immediate gratification over something that could be true for a broader population and a longer timeframe, we forget our true potential. A mindset based on fear and scarcity creates a world that is constrained by human limitations. A mindset based on integration and connection with something greater creates a world that enables transcendence.
Higher vs. Lesser Truth
What is “truth”? In this post-information age where unyielding opinions and echo chambers replace our ability to see an objective reality, can we still speak of “truth”? I believe so, but it requires work. We must get past false urgency and exaggerated self-importance and ask: “In this situation, what is truefor the most beings for the longest duration?” If we truly sit and contemplate that notion, it will guide us as to the higher truth that is possible in any moment. The Iroquois made decisions based on thinking seven generations out. What would business look like if we did the same? What do you know to be true in this higher sense?
Authentic Original Nature
What is our authentic original nature? It is who we were before fear and the desire to ”fit in” made us smaller, before we contorted ourselves to gain external validation, before we sacrificed important elements of ourselves to pursue the goals of others. Some of those things served a purpose for a point in time, but we are past that now. We must to get back to the work of embracing who we authentically are andbecoming the person we are destined to be. Through the cracks of an outdated façade, we get glimpses of it. When we see young children simply playing, when a character of some movie or book resonates with us somehow, when we have a moment of truly feeling alive. These all stir the memory of our authentic original nature and invite it to be resurrected, revived, or renewed.