Hidden Thoughts

Watching a herd of swans in Windsor, England, I noticed they were pressed together, facing the same direction, and waiting for tourists to feed them.  Some stayed calm while the bread was tossed; others were frantically trying to get to the food.  Hunger does that when self-survival is at stake.

This image came to mind as I read today’s news: the struggle for power and the desire for one ideology to dominate another — Self and Survival!

When are you challenged to blend in?
(Photo: Windsor Swans, England - Larry Gardepie)

Another image flashed across my mind:  our elementary and high school need to fit in and be like everyone else…or wanting others to Be Like Me.

Contradictions began stacking up as I reflected on these images:

• When do we truly become individuals… with so much of our commercial and political environments suggesting that we fit in and be like others?
• Can ideas and ideologies coexist… when we are in an endless loop of one way of thinking dominating another?
• Are Self and Survival hardwired… and will Others and their survival be denied?

What do you see from your hidden place?
(Photo: Salzburg, Austria - Larry Gardepie)

Fear surfaces when our language focuses on Us-or-Them. Low awareness tends to build walls to keep others out.  We fight for our survival… not realizing that we may be denying another person their survival.  Does it have to be this way, though?

We remember the schoolyard lessons of competition… Winning-Losing… and we somehow forget the importance of Sharing.

Living in fear requires that we band together, face the same direction, and value like-minded thinking.  Sharing opens us to the possibility that both can exist... and survive!

Is it possible to see beyond your hidden thoughts?
(Photo: Puye Cliff Dwellings, New Mexico - Larry Gardepie)

I wonder where our inner hunger comes from:

• The desire to become an individual with differing views?
• A willingness to accept someone for who they are?
• The need to form a community with varied talents and ideas?

As we move further into this New Year, let’s talk about our fears, seek ways to overcome them, and share our hidden thoughts.
 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting