Life A'Billowing

Were you fascinated by clouds when you were younger -- looking for shapes and patterns as the clouds passed overhead?  Then, did you notice a change later in life?  The shapes and patterns help us to understand the weather in our part of the world.  Our child-like wonder transformed into predictions and certainty.

 What is more useful in life:  wonder... predictability... certainty?  Maybe all three?

What do the clouds tell you?
(Photo:  Clouds over Amazon River - Larry Gardepie)

If I were to describe myself in one word, I would say that I am an Observer.  That is, I watch and listen... and then engage.  My curiosity takes hold, and I wonder and ask questions.  Later, when I see patterns that are predictable, I become certain that I am right about a person or a situation.

What happens, though, when life isn't that simple?

When do you feel dwarfed by a situation?
(Photo:  Amazon River and Distant Shores - Larry Gardepie)

The clouds were SPECTACULAR sailing up the Amazon River a few weeks ago.  The wide river and the distant shores were defined by these magnificent celestial bodies:  everything was dwarfed by these billowing giants!

So, if life isn't always simple, I wonder what might be defining the uncertainty and unpredictability?  Can we observe, engage, and allow curiosity to take hold so that we can ask questions and understand?

Can you see and address what is changing?
(Photo: A Changing River - Larry Gardepie)

The Amazon River Basin is a complex environment with over 1,000 tributaries flowing into the main river.  Along its route, some rivers join and change the brown Amazon.  In other places, a river's temperature and pH don't match the Amazon's, so the two rivers stay separate until they adjust and balance. (You might have the brown Amazon alongside the black Rio Negro or green Tapajós River!)

As we observe, engage, and ask questions, maybe we are following a similar process of adjusting and balancing what is important.  This doesn't mean that our value systems necessarily change.  Rather, for the first time, we might be hearing and understanding another way of thinking and being.  Can we live side-by-side until we are ready to trust and engage?

Wonder... predictability... certainty.  Life is a'billowing!

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

 

 

Images of Self

We're going to a zoo?  And then a national research institute?  I guess my San Diego-snobbery got in the way!  After all, San Diego has a "world famous zoo", a safari park, Seaworld, and Scripps Research Institute!

Boy, was I wrong!  I was trapped in one Way of Thinking -- that what I have is better.  I would have missed the beauty and variety of Amazonian mammals, marine life, and insects found only in this part of the world.

And, I would have missed being caught in an Amazon Rainforest downpour that  has to be experienced (at least once!).

Are there times when you feel trapped?
(Photo:  Amazon River Otter, Instituto Nacional
de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Manaus, Brazil - Larry Gardepie)

It takes these moments of resistance...and flexibility... to accept an invitation for self-reflection:

• Who am I?
  
• Who am I in relation to others?
• Who am I in relation to the world?
  

We are challenged to ask other questions as well:  What makes where we live special?  Are we any better than others?  How can we experience anew -- with wonder and excitement -- the world we haven't encountered or don't understand?

How do you see yourself?
(Photo: Zooligico do CIGS, Manaus, Brazil - Larry Gardepie)

While on this Amazonian reflective journey, I came across a quote attributed to Mother Teresa: 

 

No one in this world is pure and perfect.

If you avoid people for their mistakes,

you will be alone in this world.

So judge less and love more.

I have to admit, though, this is so difficult to live out in our polarized world where One Side won't even talk or listen to The Other!

What standards do you have for yourself and others?
(Photo credit: Facebook download)

How then do we get past our embedded ideologies?  Is it as simple as Judge Less and Love More?

So many questions this week!  What are your thoughts?  Have you found ways to engage in a diverse world where Our Snobberies are overcome, and we experience the Downpour of Love and Acceptance?

 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

 

 

 

Promises... Made and Kept?

Rainy season can bring traffic snarls, flooded streets, and reminders that we are not in charge.  Sometimes we slow down and are more cautious as we go outside with rain coats, umbrellas, and other ways to protect ourselves.

With our long-delayed rainy season in Southern California, this past month has been a pleasant reminder that rain -- and sunshine! -- create conditions where rainbows populate our heavens: a biblical reminder that God made a promise never to destroy the earth by flood again.

How do you react when you see a rainbow?
(Photo: Rainbow over Rio Tapajós, Brazil - Larry Gardepie)

Promises and Reminders of Promises... these are charged words in today's news-flooded and politically snarled world.  For many people, it's another way of feeling that we are not in charge.

What do we need to protect ourselves in this current climate?  Where are the rainbows that can make us feel safe against real and perceived destruction?

What is promised at the end of your rainbow?
(Photo: Rainbow in the North Atlantic Ocean - Larry Gardepie)

I remember my mother telling me as a child not to make a promise I could not keep.  I guess that is why I am skeptical when someone makes a promise to me:

• Does this person have the ability to fulfill what was promised?
• Will the promise - kept or broken -- change our relationship?
• Are we equal partners as the results of the promise? 

You may have other questions or ways to understand promises, other ways to slow down and protect yourself from false agreements.  But, more importantly, where are the rainbows -- where light shines through our darkest times?

Where do you expect to see rainbows?
(Photo: Rainbow while out shopping, San Diego - Larry Gardepie)

Time will tell whether the current climate changes.  But, through dialogue, we can shine light on what we hear: Promises Made -- Promises Understood -- Promises Unfulfilled -- Promises Kept.  Not to create a scorecard, but to support an understanding of our relationship.

To quote Dolly Parton:

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."

Protect yourself during your storms... and hope for the rainbows!

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

Beautiful Change?

How do you feel about change?  Are you a change agent... on the front edge of change or a little more cautious?  We are going through unprecedented changes right now in our country and in the world.  What are your thoughts and feelings?

I came across an interesting photo on Facebook a few weeks ago:  a composite of twelve pictures of the sun over twelve months, taken from the same location and at the same time.

Isn't it beautiful to see the pathway of the sun in relation to the seasons of the year?

What changes do you see when you step back?
(Photo credit:  Beautiful Nature, Facebook group)

This photo demonstrates the ebbs and flows of nature when we step back a month at a time.  It illustrates the changes that we experience but sometimes forget or take for granted.

Change is always happening around us -- whether we admit it or not!

Are there times when life is cloudy and unclear?
(Photo: Cloud-Filled Sea Day, Larry Gardepie)

So back to the changes in our country and the world:  how are you experiencing them?  Moment by moment... or... stepping back and noticing the arc of where we are headed?

Are you concerned about the changes?  Why?  Are you okay with the changes?  Why?

When is change beautiful?
(Photo:  Flaming Sunset at Sea, Larry Gardepie)

Without trying to convince a partner, friend, or work colleague, are you able to:

• Talk about what you are seeing, thinking, and feeling?
• Listen to other perspectives and perceptions?
• Understand how change may be dividing or uniting us?
  

I believe this type of dialogue is necessary: that ability to talk about our fears and concerns, our agreements and acceptance, and where this arc of change may be taking us.

Without sharing our hopes and concerns, we won't be able to step back and distinguish the seasons of change nor the beauty of relationships.
 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

Being Kind... A Wor[l]d Apart

Just wondering: when you hear the word, Kind, what goes through your mind?  What is your definition of Kindness?  How does a Kind Person behave?  Is a Kind Person considered strong or weak?

These thoughts went through my mind as I reflected on the contrast between various Kindness memes posted on Facebook and the reality of how some people express themselves in the Comments section of Facebook or on X ("formerly know as Twitter").

How do you respond when there are disagreements?
(Photo credit:  Facebook download)

Sometimes, there is a harshness and an accusatory nature to people's interactions online and in the written word.  What is off-putting:  The words?  The tone?  The labeling?

Kindness?  Am I missing the kindness in a person's raw honesty?  Or is kindness absent when we disagree?

Do you choose to be kind... all the time?
(Photo credit:  Banksy, Facebook download)

You can see that I have a lot of questions when it comes to What We Say and What We Do!  Oftentimes, kindness, respect, and understanding are missing when we disagree.  We protect ourselves from the other...Person? Ideas? Actions?

The phrase "I guess we agree to disagree" -- even when said kindly -- recognizes the barrier between us.

How do you make others feel?
(Photo credit: Winnie the Pooh Addict, Facebook download)

The dictionary lists many synonyms for Kind and Kindness -- compassionate, generosity, sympathy, tenderness -- but only one antonym -- cruel.

The choice might be very simple as we meet others and listen to their differing experiences:

• Do we want to show compassion... or cruelty?
• Do we want to be generous... or selfish?
• Do we want to sympathize... or ignore their humanity?

The contrasts are stark when looking at words and actions this way:  we may be words and worlds apart!

 We have a choice today: To Be Kind... or Not!

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting