What Do You See? What Do You Imagine? (Part 3 of 3)

By assembling puzzles as a family (click here to read Part 1 of 'What Do You See? What Do You Imagine?') and working with a non-profit's management team (click here to read Part 2), I have come to realize how important it is to become aware of what I known and what I imagine.  In this process of noticing, I am challenged to distinguish between facts, observations and assumptions, and I am encouraged to lay out these pieces on the table... for everyone to see and share.  Once these pieces of Knowledge and Meaning have been identified and sorted, we are invited to work together:  asking questions; checking out what we know and assume; and assembling a picture much more expansive than any one perspective.

This practice of identifying and sharing facts, observations, and assumptions, plus the added dimension of asking questions for clarity and understanding, will create a still deeper awareness that,

• Currently, some pieces may be absent; and,
• For some time in the future, the full picture may remain unknown.  

Thus, accepting both Absence and Fullness invites us to transition from a Problem-solving Mindset (reaching a goal; looking for what is missing; moving toward a finished product) to an outlook of Presence and Journey (how we live and work together; how our individual pieces create a whole; how we respond when we find ourselves caught between absence and fullness).

How might we shift from completing the final scene...
toward the discovery of the missing pieces' importance?
(A portion of a Thomas Kinkade puzzle)

After the five management team members assembled their individual sections (sky and treetops; a country house and trees; several village houses; a Celtic cross, a portion of a stone bridge, and water; a path leading to a another portion of the bridge), there was still a Hole in the picture: the picture was not Whole.

As the facilitator, I held back several pieces of the puzzle.  I wanted to see whether the team could imagine the final outcome without these few pieces.  By this point in the exercise, the management team could see the country village landscape, and a few assumed the missing pieces finished off the roof line of the village.  Accurate as this guess might have been, it was not complete.   The missing pieces formed the church's steeple - giving a specific meaning to that missing roof line.
 

What pieces are missing in your Life Puzzle?
The answer may be different for each of us!
(A portion of a Thomas Kinkade puzzle)

I was not making a point about church or religion.  I could have held back any four pieces to demonstrate: any one of us may consciously or subconsciously hold back information that could change the overall tenor or meaning of a discussion or decision.  The pieces in our possession may be as important as changing the meaning of a word:  adding W to hole changes the word to Whole... a new word, a whole new meaning!

I wonder... do you think that we can individually... and collectively... slow down, and ask:

• What am I missing?  What are you missing?  What are we missing together?
• What do I have?  What do you have?  What do we have together?
• What have I not shared?  What have you not shared?  What have we been unable to share together? 

It isn't until all pieces are shared and assembled
that we see clearly the landscape before us...
and the journey of how we got there!
(A Thomas Kinkade puzzle)

The answers to these questions may suggest that:

• Each person is important.
• What each person thinks, feels, and contributes is important.
• How we listen to and understand the facts, observations, and assumptions will affect the Absence and Fullness of any outcome. 

Thus, I would suggest, that we have a responsibility to engage in this journey of Discovery, sharing when we can the knowledge and understanding about this beautiful world we cohabit... together!


May this week allow times to discover absent pieces, bringing you and your loved ones to a Whole-y Life Puzzle!

Larry Gardepie
Dialogue San Diego Consulting