Nature Tells Us: Destruction, Change, and Possibilities

Have you felt nervous or anxious recently?   I have!  It is sometimes hard to escape the negative rhetoric, violent actions, and blame that fills our news these days.  I have noticed at times that I have become impatient or suddenly angry for little or no reason.

Have you experienced this as well? 

Is there something rumbling under your surface?
(Photo:  Thermal Vents, Iceland - Larry Gardepie)

A friend suggested that I pay attention to what my body is telling me:  tightness in my stomach; becoming tired for no reason; stiff neck or headaches.  Nature offers hints of what is happening below the surface.

Living in California, we have learned to document the tremors that shake our world.  Iceland has thermal vents that reminds the people of the enormous energy below their homes.

Nature often warns us of destruction or change, but it also points towards possibilities and hope.

What obscures your view?
(Photo: Icelandic Scenery - Larry Gardepie)

What is troubling about the current political climate is what obscures what is really happening - externally and internally.

Examples:

• Dividing and blaming others. 
• Normalizing bad behavior and words.
• Accepting hate-filled motives and actions. 

If I judge these examples against how I was brought up, I know that my parents would never have tolerated this kind of environment in our home!

The question for all of us, then, might be:  why do we allow these words and actions to become the norm from those who represent us -- who enter our homes with their toxic words and actions?

Do you have wishes for your friends and family?
(Photo:  Dandelion Wishes Ready - Larry Gardepie)

Yes, nature hints at destruction, death, and change, but it also provides daily hope.  As children, we would find dandelions ready to seed, make a wish, blow, and allow the breeze to spread our wish-seeds.

What do you wish for these days?  How can you become the catalyst for positive change?  Where can you share your idea-seeds and allow growth and beauty? 
 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

Transformations Revealed

Hearing about the decline of the Monarch Butterflies we decided to plant milkweed in our front yard as a way to support their food source.  It took one or two years for the plants to take hold, but now we have four established plants... and we have monarch caterpillars and butterflies enjoying our labor!

The milkweed plants have beautiful red, yellow, and orange flowers with elongated green leaves.  What I didn't realize is how much the caterpillars would eat!  They DEVOUR the plants down to the stems!

Where do you get nourishment?
(Photo: Monarch Caterpillars - Larry Gardepie)

At times we have had adults and children stopping by and watching the Monarchs flitting about... and then notice the caterpillars crawling all over the plants.  One child asked me the first year, "You don't mind them eating the plants?"

That question stopped me: we also have fruit trees and vegetable plants where I become upset when the insects take over and denude the plants.  Why not the milkweed?  Why am I not upset at the Monarchs? 

How much do you share what you have?
(Photo: Milkweed and Monarch Caterpillars - Larry Gardepie)

I guess my response to the child ("No, I don't mind") depended on context:  the Monarchs need our help to survive and the milkweed was planted for that purpose.  Plus, I had no other use for the milkweed except for being connected to the natural cycle of life.

I was growing the oranges, tomatoes, basil, watercress, arugula, chard, and rosemary, on the other hand, for our dinner table. 

What happens when you are transformed?
(Photo: Milkweed Flowers and Monarch Butterfly - Larry Gardepie)

A child's innocent question invited me to consider when and how I share my abundance.  And... that is where our transformation begins:

• Our ability to ask or listen to a question;
• Our openness to honestly reflect on our experiences; and,
• Our willingness to change.

What transformation or metamorphosis have you experienced lately? 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

Clouds Illusions

Recently, we had a "Joni-Mitchell-Clouds-Illusions-type" day -- recall her 1966 hit song, "Both Sides Now."   (Click on the link to listen to the song.) 

The clouds throughout the day were magnificent! 

"Rows and floes of angel hair,
Ice cream castles in the air,
And feather canyons everywhere,
::
But now they only block the sun."

It was one of those days when Creation's Beauty invited us to slow down, notice our surroundings, and reflect on life.

Are your Life Plans all lined up?
(Photo:  "Rows and floes of angel hair" - Larry Gardepie)

Like the clouds, the song speaks to the changes and temporariness of life:  we assume we know what is the next best thing for us... then the Winds of Life blow... and we are left wondering.

"It's clouds illusions I recall,
I really don't know clouds at all."

Is it an illusion to know what's best for ourselves and others?  How do we respond when we don't get what we want?

What happens when obstacles block your dreams?
(Photo:  "But now they only block the Sun" - Larry Gardepie)

The challenge, I believe, is to dream and hope and plan... balanced with a healthy acceptance of floating and adjusting. That is, the willingness to:

• Welcome and embrace the unexpected;
• Adapt and flow with new experiences; and,
• Consider and adjust when previously unseen Truths Emerge.

Maybe that's the purpose of life: to have our dreams AND to evolve our understanding of purpose, values, and connectedness.

What don't you know?
(Photo: "Ice cream castles in the air" - Larry Gardepie)

What is beautiful about Joni's prophetic song is her repetition of the words "Both Sides Now":

"I've looked at clouds from both sides now."
"I've looked at love from both sides now."
"I've looked at life from both sides now"

It's the humble acceptance that we might not know everything right now, we must stay in dialogue with others, and our illusions (assumptions?) might change.

Let's be open to looking at both sides now!

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

Human Complexity

My Iowa grandparents would spend their two-week vacation each year in California with us.  My family would pack into the station wagon and trek two hours north to the San Francisco International Airport. At that time the terminals were arranged in a horseshoe around a circular multi-story parking garage.  There was one multi-lane road into the airport and the garage and one multi-lane road away from the airport.

As time passed, the needs of San Francisco changed:  the airport terminals now surround the garage; an automated train connects the terminals; BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) provides public transportation to the airport; and the road system and overpasses have become more complex.

I saw an aerial view of SFO recently and was amazed at how it's changed over the years.

Has your life become more complex over time?
(Photo credit:  San Francisco Airport - Facebook post)

Complexity, change and inconsistency are the words surfacing in my mind since last week's post, A Confession (click on link to read).  I introduced myself:  "Hi!  My name is Larry G, and I am a recovering dialogue-aholic!"

The situation I encountered last week had to do with the elections: how divided our country is; how complex our lives have become; and how inconsistent we are with our needs or wants.  I am afraid as we try to figure where to go, we are traveling through life too quickly and missing important signs.

WE (individually and collectively) have created the complexity -- in ourselves, our families, and our communities.

Do we acknowledge what humans have created?
(Photo credit:  Highway Engineering - Facebook post)

Examples?  We say we want to slow down... but we take on more.  We say the economy has left us behind... yet airports are hitting record travel above pre-pandemic levels.  We say food and everything is more expensive (which is true), but we've been setting all-time highs in consumer buying (looking at volume not increased prices).  Cost-of-living and gas is high, yet we voted for bonds and tax increases and still buy gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs.  We point to our elected officials and vote them out of office, yet we don't change our ways.

I know these examples are myopic and incomplete, but the surface level disturbs me:  we aren't willing to have civil conversations about what we need or want.  Rather, we label The Other as the problem and create dividing lines that separate us.

Are we part of the problem?
~ ~ Click on image to enlarge ~ ~
(Photo credit:  Highway Engineering - Facebook post)

This disconnect became evident when a red-capped woman identified me as a "F------ Liberal" and accused me two days before the election of creating the problems in our country.  I noticed that I listened to the election results Tuesday evening through this isolated experience... I was hurt... I was angry... I was misjudged... I was blamed.

How bad is OUR situation and how isolated have WE become? If one-half of OUR population is upset (no matter which side WE are on), there is a problem!  This is not a WE-THEY issue... WE are talking about US!

Complexity, change, and inconsistency... maybe WE need to talk about it in a civil manner... as Americans... all on the same side... not blaming... but listening... and wondering how to move forward.

 Oops!  I forgot!  "Hi!  My name is Larry G, and I am a recovering dialogue-aholic!"
 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

Memories... Like the Corners of My Mind

I know... I am back to memories!  There are reasons for this:

• I visited with an elementary school teacher (who is 98 years young);
• I attended my high school class' 50th Reunion; and,
  
• A friend just died of a prolonged illness.

All are reminders of time passing... precious time and memories!

What is written in your Life Book?
(Photo: North Salinas High School Yearbook Cover)

I am reminded of Barbra Streisand's song, The Way We Were:

"Memories
Like the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were.

Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were."

I am learning several things about these memories: the fragile nature of life... what is important and what we treasure... stability and change.

How do you see yourself?
(Photo:  Graduation Photo - Larry Gardepie)

As I listened to and observed my classmates of 50 years ago, I became curious about the paths people took, decisions made, families and legacies:  what was recalled from days long past and what we made of our lives.

People remembered that I was a long-distance runner... and that I was quiet.  If we are still in touch, they know that I love to travel, family and friends are important, and that I have had a varied career (teaching, youth ministry, seminary, human resources, project management, software implementation and design, consulting).

What are those memories in the corners of your mind?

What has changed... and is still changing... in your life?
(Photo:  Seville, Spain 2013 - Larry Gardepie)

As I returned to my "quiet self" of 50 years ago, I realized that is still part of who I am.... but it no longer speaks of whom I have become.  I am no longer the quiet person people remember.  I -- and we -- are much, much more than the memories!

I believe the gift of reunions and memories is to establish a shared base of what we knew... back then.  The beauty of dialogue is the discovery of how we have changed... and what is important to us now.

This is a lifelong process:  remembering Yesterday's Person while accepting the freedom and challenge to honor Today's Awareness.

This freedom extends to how we see and treat others in our lives... not trapping them in the Memory Corners we have constructed but smiling and accepting today's discovery.

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)

Birthing New Perspectives

Over the past several weeks I have participated in virtual reunions with friends from my 8th grade class and from the youth ministry groups I coordinated.  Many of these friendships go back 40-50 years:  we are an accumulation of shared history, individual stories, and years together and separate.  In addition, November is a month of remembrance and thanksgiving: All Saints, All Souls, Día de los Muertos, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving... and it's my birthday month!

Reflecting on the passage of time and relationships -- past and present -- provides me insights into Lessons Learned.

What impressions are created when
you meet someone for the first time?
(Photo:  Larry Gardepie, 11 hours old)

I have noticed how immediate impressions have skewed how I look at people.  I am wondering:

• Are those impressions accurate?
• Did I allow the friendship to reveal the depth of the other person?
• Was I willing to be changed by new information about that person?

I don't know about you, but sometimes it is difficult to let go of first impressions!   I quickly assume I know the person because of my earliest conclusions.  I am hoping this awareness will slow me down and remind me to check out what I saw, heard, and concluded about others.

How do you see people after
they do something unexpected?
(Photo:  Larry Gardepie, displaying crocheted objects)

 

When my grandmother moved into a nursing home, her world became smaller, her sense of self-worth eroded, and she concluded that she no longer had anything to give.  I knew my grandmother crocheted, so I spent a vacation week with her -- asking her to show me how to crochet.  There were many moments of frustration as my not-so-nimble fingers tried to figure out single, double, and triple crochet stitches!  The time with Grandma was what we both needed:  I eventually overcame my frustration and my crochet skills improved; she passed along part of herself to a grandchild.  Soon after our time together, Grandma began to forget how to crochet.

 

What was unexpected:  people's double-takes when they encountered a young man working on a lace tablecloth or an afghan... like the Czech guard looking down with surprise (or disgust!), turning around abruptly, walking away and not completing his passport-checking duties on the train I was on!

Do you change when working closely
with others on a shared project?
(Photo, Larry Gardepie and project colleagues)

Our world is more connected than ever, yet at times we seem so far apart.  To bridge some of our separation, I wonder:

• Are we willing to sit with someone and learn more about them, allowing our first impressions to be challenged?
• Rather than projecting what we think the other person will say or do, can we invite curiosity to be our guide as we explore what another person experiences?
• Like children, how might we excitedly anticipate the unexpected, awaken each day to a new world, and hope for change?
  

May we reconnect this week through our awareness of first impressions, our curiosity to learn more, and our willingness to change.

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)