More Irish Musings: Where is Our Loyalty?

Sitting in an airport waiting for our next flight, I began noticing the artwork around me.  A series of wavy colored beads caught my attention: it looked like an artist's version of the American flag (red, white, and blue).  How creative!  How patriotic!

Then I remembered I was in London Heathrow and the colors were both the colors of their national flag and those of British Airways... Oops!

(Did you know that more than twelve countries have flags with red, white, and blue as primary colors?  United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Russia, Netherlands, Australia...)

What catches your attention?
(Photo: Airport Artwork - Larry Gardepie)

What caught my attention and how I connected the information may not have been what the artist or the commissioning benefactor had in mind.  Instead, I took what I knew or understood and filtered or projected another meaning.  Does this happen to you as well?

These thoughts lingered throughout the next week as our tour group traveled throughout Northern Island, and we were introduced to art, landmarks, symbols, and messages of struggle and peace.

What stories do we tell along our journey?
(Photo: Downhill Trek to the Giants Causeway,
Northern Ireland - Larry Gardepie)

For example, visiting the Giants Causeway along the northern coastline between Belfast and Derry-Londonderry, we were introduced to an ancient myth of Irish and Scottish giants who created a causeway (rock bridge) between these two islands.  The giants wanted to prove who was bigger and stronger.  Their focus?  Individual loyalty - who was better.

Scientifically, we now have a different understanding about how these rock formations were created, but it was interesting to ponder how we all create stories... myths and legends... about what we don't know.  This includes what we don't know about other people!

Can our stories bend and change over time?
(Photo credit:  song by Jeffrey Buckley and Elizabeth Fraser)

Now that I am home and celebrating this American holiday weekend, I wonder:

• What stories have we created about patriotism and loyalty?
• How do we seek out and allow new information to change us?
• Can we test the accuracy of these myths and legends? 

As we journey with one another, let us consider an Augustinian way of thinking and living, where we are called:

• To be loyal to Truth (veritas), Unity (unitas), and Love (caritas).

And where:

• Truth provides a common foundation;
• Unity creates a common framework; and
• Love provides a motivation and compassion that allows everyone to flourish.

Happy Truth-Unity-Love Day! 

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)

Mistaken Identity

An online game that I sometimes play displays a "color word" (e.g., black, blue, red, yellow) and a colored shape (e.g., a blue or red circle; a yellow or black square; a red or yellow triangle).  The task is to decide if the word and the shape's color match.  You are trying to score as many correct answers as you can in a short amount of time.  Every time you play you are trying to improve your previous score.  Simple, right?

There is a trick in the game, though:  the color of the word may match the shape's color, but the word actually may spell out a different color.

Example:  the word may be BLACK but it is colored as blue, and the shape may be blue.  This is NOT a match.... because the color word says BLACK.

It's amazing what our minds see and how we react!

What do you see?
(Photo credit: festival honoring the Greek god Dionysus,
Paris 2024 Olympics - MSNBC)

You may have watched the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics or have heard some of the commentary following.  What amazes me is how quickly we form opinions, come to conclusions, judge, and become outraged by something we dislike... or don't understand.

Lady Gaga and the Moulin Rouge Can Can Dancers were some of the entertainers along the 3-plus mile route the Olympic athletes took along the Seine River.  No outrage or negative comments.

One tableau paid homage to the early Greek Olympics: it was a scene of an Olympic festival honoring the god Dionysus.  Some people saw this scene as a mockery of DaVinci's iconic "The Last Supper." 

Our minds see what is familiar to us... and how quickly we react!

How do we interpret what is unfamiliar to us?
(Photo: Elizabeth Peratrovich and
Totem Pole, Juneau - Larry Gardepie)

I have been to Juneau several times over the years.  In a recent visit, I noticed a new set of totem poles along the waterway and a portrait of a young indigenous woman. Totem poles tell stories - reading from the bottom up.  The stories of older totem poles are sometimes lost when the elders die.  Looking at these newer poles, I can revel at their beauty and craftsmanship... but I don't know what they are saying.

And, what was the story behind this woman's portrait?  I did a little research and found out that her name was Elizabeth Peratrovich, a woman of the local Tlingit peoples.  In 1941, she saw a sign in a Juneau hotel that read "No Natives Allowed."  She is honored as the first Alaskan civil rights activist who helped people see the harm in excluding others because of their skin, background... and stories.

How many stories are untold?
(Photo:  Gitwilgyoots Tribe panel, Prince Rupert - Larry Gardepie)

Exploring Prince Rupert, we came across an exhibit of wall panels from the native tribal houses.  The panels have similarities -- but are quite different when you spend time looking at the details of each panel.  The local peoples have different stories.  I realized as I stood in front of each panel that I could marvel at the beauty and design, but there was so much I didn't know:  I didn't know the stories; I could not identify. 

There is so much we don't know about ourselves and others!  Our mistake is that we have forgotten some of our stories... or, in the case of people from other countries and cultures, we don't know their stories.

Maybe it's time to...  (How would you finish this sentence?) 
 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)

Standing by Your Story?

Listening to a mentor-partner this past week, I wondered about statements that this person was making -- not whether they were true or not, but whether he was distinguishing between facts and assumptions.  He ended with "That's my story!"  Over the next few minutes, we explored this "story":

• What was known or assumed.
• What was observed or shared by others.
• If any biases or filters may have distorted what happened.
  
• How he was piecing together the situation that concerned him.

Understanding that we all "fill in the blanks" and we all "create stories" is a starting point for curiosity:  Am I interested in finding out what really happened?
 

What story do you remember?
~~ Click on image to enlarge ~~
(Photo credit:  Far Side, Gary Larson, 01/30/91)

This lesson hit home when I was watching a YouTube video, "Creating Perspective Art Using Paper Cups."  (Click on link to watch this 3-minute video.)

 

At one point in the video, it says "[The] Key is getting the proportions just right."

 

How true with the stories that we tell: balancing the perspectives of fact, fiction, assumptions, and truth!  We have collected all these disparate pieces of information, but we may have arranged them incorrectly or placed more emphasis on one aspect of the story than another.

How do you piece together the information you receive?
(Photo credit:  Creating Perspective Art Using Paper Cups,
Insider Art, YouTube)

Spending time with another mentor-partner, I heard her describe what seemed like two different stories:  her supervisor said one thing and a work colleague said another.  Having met with the supervisor and work colleague separately the week before, I could see that BOTH stories were correct!  It was a matter of the timeline:  WHEN something had happened.

 

Yes, the stories were different -- and confusing -- to the mentor-partner who had received information from the supervisor and work colleague... but as potential options were being discussed, people's input had changed the story's outcome.  Both stories were true... at the time WHEN they were told.

Does your story provide perspective?
(Photo credit:  Creating Perspective Art Using Paper Cups,
Insider Art, YouTube)

 The lessons for me?  Being able to:

• Keep an open mind about the information I receive;
• Realize that each perspective might be true -- at the time it happened; and,
  
• See the importance of getting the proportions just right.

That is, learning to balance what I hear with the assumptions and stories that I tell myself.  Rather than "Standing by my story," I must be willing to listen and become curious by asking questions about timeline (when), intentions (why), participants present (who), and checking out the facts (how).

May we become creative in the art of perspective!

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)