How is your universe today?

If you lived here (right, from a Sculpture Park in Japan) would you be happier? Calmer?
Where would you be? Swinging on a ball, climbing the walls, running for the door...

We are where we are. We worry when we worry; about what seems to be almost incidental, we start by being in a worried state than find something to hook it onto - the end of the world as we know it or the bus being late, it starts with the worrying not with the worry.

And the same seems to be true of joy. It catches us unawares; a crisp packet in the sun, a smile from a stranger, a loving memory. And we can feel disappointingly joy-free in The Big Moments, the ones that would be the high points in the film of our lives.

So if our worry or our joy seems to be independent of the worrying or joyful things we experience then isn't that wonderful? We are free to just be, to enjoy the joy whenever it happens upon us and to let the worry be, then go, when anxiety threatens to fill our heads.

Now I'm going for a big swing on one of those balls...

Feeling the cold

I wrote down a line from a song the other day
"'coz right now to feel pain and sorrow is a relief. I miss my heart". (Merry)
At the time I was thinking about my own reactions to life and its challenges. How easy it is to freeze over the uncomfortable bits.

Today it strikes me that I have also seen this happen in organisations. When the emotions get frozen out (except maybe anger which always seems to be allowed). Then there's a real crisis and in a way, it's almost enjoyable. At least something is happening.. it DOES feel like a relief.

I hope that I get better as a human being in not having to resort to pain to feel something. And I hope that I can help some of the organisations and communities I work with stay in touch with what is happening at the heart of their organisation - hearts and minds, minds and hearts, power and love, love and power, left, right, left, right, left...

String Theory

No, not the physics sort, the community sort.

A friend of mine has a fascinating software that plots the connections between individuals in a community (or workplace). On the resulting map the fire-breaks are clear. There are usually some small isolated groups, some free floating individuals connected to nobody, and some thought leaders with many connections. They then work with the group to increase connectedness - and therefore effectiveness.

How are your bits of string? Easy to say on facebook or linkedin but what about in real life? In your neighbourhood?
Which groups have become disconnected and what can any of us do to tie in some new bits?
Where are the frayed bits that used to work but have become worn?
Where are the tangled bits that need a bit of a sort out?

There, I got all the way to the end without saying "how long is a piece of string?". Oh drat.

The Shadow Side

Do you see the shadow first or the sunlight first?

I try to remember that I can't have one without the other. When an unexpected blow comes in - as just happened to me today - my first response is shock, outrage, indignation, disappointment.

Maybe there is another side. A positive in the negative.

So I breathe. I absorb the surprising information. I notice the ripples. I remember there may be an upside that I don't yet know about. I know I'll cope.

Every silver lining has a cloud.

Standing alone

They say it's lonely at the top. But you can be a leader at the bottom too - and that can also be lonely.

Aloneness, stepping out of the crowd, leaping into the unknown is disorientating. When I have had the impulse to act liker this it is often immedisately followed by a sense of void. That I have stepped off a cliff into nothingness. That my mind and my body have become a void.

Then the void is filled in with self doubt and general wobbliness.

Usually afterwards I realise these are some of my finest moments. And some of the most dangerous. No safety in numbers if you're a lone voice.

But then hey, someone's got to do it.  

Casserole or sushi?

What's your natural preference? A wonderful melding of tastes and sensations in one heartfelt casserole? Or a stimulating variety of tasty morsels beautifully presented?

If you enjoy both approaches then might you stir them up together?
Didn't think so.

Time and time again I catch myself sliding towards the "middle ground" option. Sushi casserole. So easy to do. Tone it down a bit, soften the blow. In one job I even got asked to make a press release "more bland". For a split second I considered the request.

I hope to become less susceptible to this. More bold. Bigger breaths. More centred so more prepared to stand up for / to something.

I love sushi. I enjoy a good stew. Just not together.

Movement

From my desk I look at the crown of a splendid tree. The leaves (still there after all that snow!) flicker in the breeze. The branches bounce. The sway of the trunk is barely perceptible.
In our lives we can have a lot of fuss at the edges. Our many many leaves are rustled and flutter from all that surrounds us. And our branches may bounce with joy or with fear.
But our trunk can still hold it's ground. We sway, we are influenced, but we are not displaced.
On a good day!
And the organisations we belong to can experience the same vibrations.
How important then to take the time to plant the tree in a good spot. To consider its aspects and its purpose. Are we there to guide or to nurture? To give shelter or strength? To be fine or to be beautiful? To grow fast or span centuries.
When the wind is blowing you hither and thither, see if it helps to think of your trunk and its place in the world.

End that week, start this week

Creativity is important to me this week. I have many thoughts to process from last week's Authentic Leadership in Action program, I have a presentation on Leadership Quotient to produce, the HowNow brand to develop and a tax return to complete. I am joining the Creative Every Day challenge as part of my process. So my challenge to myself is to write a blog entry each day, always starting with a picture - before I know what the message is!

This picture from last week has got me thinking about what How Now offers. For some clients it is the detail in the foreground that is the most important. What to do next? Which products/ideas to develop first? For others it is the horizon, their strategic direction. And a third interesting possibility is the white space in between. The air they breathe as an organisation, the leadership and courage that gets them from the foreground towards the horizon. Sensing, listening, considering - and then striking out, equipped to make it across the gap.