Disturbances in the Force

Fans of Star Wars will understand references to "disturbances in the force."  Why am I beginning with Disturbances?  The upcoming election seems to convey a similar sentiment... something is Not Right or Out of Balance in our communities!

There is one major difference between the movies and our present reality, though.  For the Star Wars movies, we were spectators and could differentiate between the dark side of the force (defined as anger, fear, aggression, and lust for power) and the Jedi (serving the Light and the Living).  For elections, we are called to be informed and active citizens.

Do we allow past grievances to fall away?
(Photo: Hubbard Glacier calving - Larry Gardepie)

Without taking a political side, I wonder if we can see the dark and light sides of the messages our political candidates are offering us?  I would agree that it gets confusing when both sides paint "The Other" with Dark-Force-like Language!  (Political consultants assist in honing the messages to sound bites... and we take the bait!)

I wonder if our dilemma is not having a handle on our own values or not knowing what kind of world we want for ourselves and our Loved Ones.

What helps is looking at Mystery through the lens of our Values!

How do we encounter Mystery and the Unknown?
(Photo: Mysterious Antarctica - Larry Gardepie)

For instance, if I want a world that is kind, loving, and giving...

• How do I live out those values? (Personal)
  
• Can I seek out and encourage people with similar values? (Communal)
  
• Which candidate will support the growth of those values?  (Political)
  

It takes work on our part to understand ourselves, improve ourselves, and aspire to the values important to us.  The Mystery is lessened when we take a step closer toward the World Envisioned through our values.

Can we see beyond the disturbances?
(Photo: Silver Lining - Larry Gardepie

My encouragement is in the Gift to Dialogue: listening, asking questions, and seeking to understand.  If we approach these elections with a Spirit of Dialogue, maybe we can share our value systems and what is important to us... and invite our friend and neighbor to do the same.  In this way we could lessen the boundaries that separate us:  we have heard what is important.

 

May this week provide ways to see beyond the disturbances.  May we become informed and active citizens.  May we enliven the values that guide us -- personally, communally, and politically.

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)

Who Knows What About Whom?

You may recognize these names:  Erle Stanley Gardner, Louise Penny, Mickey Spillane, and Margaret Truman.  Each are authors of mystery series that have brought to life Perry Mason, Armand Gamache, and other characters who observe, ask questions, unravel murders, and reveal Secrets Hidden.

Throughout my childhood and into adulthood, there is one constant in my life:  I am curious!  I enjoy solving puzzles!  There is something satisfying about gathering clues, looking at possibilities, and discovering "The Answer"!

How many questions do you ask each day?
(Photo credit:  40 Favorite Interview Questions from Some
of the Sharpest Folks We Know, First Round Review)

What I am discovering about life, though:  oftentimes, there are numerous possibilities, several answers, or different conclusions to the mysteries that we encounter every day.  This makes Real Life more challenging than a jigsaw puzzle or a book that leads us to one result.

In other words, each person remains a Book Unopened with pages of Mysteries Unsolved... even when we have shared experiences or have lived together for years.

Do you ask questions to prove a point,
to understand, or because you are curious?
(Photo credit:  20 Questions to Get to Know People
or Someone Better, BetterHelp)

For instance:  I grew up the second of six children.  We had the same parents, went to the same church, and attended the same schools... but we are so different in our personalities, interests, and occupations.  We haven't lived together for decades, and yet something still binds us together.

What I have noticed in the past year where I've had the opportunity to spend time with each sibling and their loved ones:  we are no longer the same people we were when we grew up together.  The core of who we are may be recognizable.  But as an adult sibling, I can no longer be boxed into my role as second child.  Rather, I am now called to encourage and witness Truth Unfolding.

In essence, we are Strangers Meeting and getting to know one another again... and again... and again!

(Photo credit:  Things to Do with Friends and Family,
The Southern Times)

It is that Mystery-of-Knowing-but-Not-Knowing another person that intrigues me.  (Curiosity!)  I cannot assume I know what someone will think, say, or do.  We are constantly changing!  Isn't it better to wait, hold back our assumptions and conclusions... and be surprised?

Like the mystery authors and their famous fictional characters, we are called to observe, ask questions, and unravel the mystery of each person we encounter. 

Isn't that an interesting challenge for us this week?!

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)

Clouds and Water: This Too Shall Pass

Have you  ever noticed how beautiful and varied clouds are: bright and fluffy; wispy and misty; dark and menacing?  Clouds and our atmosphere seem to share or reflect our moods!

As children, we would look for shapes of animals or people that we recognized.  Time passed... and we paid less attention: the shapes changed; our experiences diversified; and we focused on other interests.

What do you see in today's clouds?
(Photo:  Sunset at Sea - Larry Gardepie)

Now, years later, we look at clouds and weather much differently:  harbingers of a storm on the horizon; forecasts of what tomorrow will bring; tools to plan trips and outings.  Rather than seeing what the clouds are revealing to us in the moment, we are attempting to adjust our schedules or events around good or bad weather patterns.  We have placed values or made judgements and decisions on how we read the situation.

Moving from clouds to water, I wonder about the nurturing cycle of droplets that amass in clouds and rivers... that passage of time when thoughts are condensed and held suspended or rained down and gathered in movement and change.

Do you hold onto the past or worry about the future?
(Photo:  Gullfoss Waterfall, Iceland - Larry Gardepie)

I have learned that the passing of time is conveyed by both.  "Get your head out of the clouds" or "Much water has passed under that bridge," my friends would tell me, as I would reflect on, relive or try to understand something that happened in the past.

As I grow older and return to cloud-watching, I notice a calmness as I slip back into the present:

• The beauty of our world;
• The mystery of other people; and,
  
• The awe of life and the diversity of ideas and ways of being

 

When did you last look at the world or
a person in wonder and awe?
(Photo:  Sunrise at Sea - Larry Gardepie)

Maybe we can take a portion of each day and recapture the wonder of childhood... by staying in the present... seeking wisps of Ideas Shared... and pausing for a movement into Presence Changed.  Rather than live in rivers of energy that move us through anxiety rapids or emotions flooded and out of control, maybe we can see life for what it is... beautiful creations of imagination, wonder, and change.

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)