August 28th, 2009
A bit of good, good reading that seemed to be worth sharing on a beautiful Friday:
Dave Pollard is always good reading, and his last two posts have seemed especially timely and valuable for me. I am a question person. I prefer big, good questions over answers any day of the week and I think that questions largely determine the direction of our growth. In Ten Powerful Questions for Conversations, Dave writes about the power of questions and share some great examples of big, open questions. I also continue to find myself drawn to the common disconnect between our intentions and the nature of the world we create. I think we largely share ideals of peace, respect, honesty, etc., yet we commonly promote, support and populate organizations, institutions and communities that do not always live those ideals. I think that we need to be more activist in accordance with our ideals and I think that authentic activisim looks very different for different people because it is connected to our unique gifts. In Create Activsim, Dave shares some valuable insights on this very topic.
In The Lost Art of Listening, Dennis Lewis talks about one of the most powerful, most valuable and most overlooked and under-utilized tools at our disposal. Listening. Real listening…which is something more than just briefly not talking. Real listening is revolutionary. Check this out…Real listening means that we open ourselves to the deep, underlying silence in ourselves, the ground of our own being, and realize that it is only this silence that can truly listen. In real listening, “there is not a you and not another. Call it love.” Enough said.
I have tried to be very clear about the fact that we should all read Jamie Notter’s blog on a regular basis, so consider this a pleasant reminder. The thing I like about Jamie is that he tackles the really, really important stuff and he does so in a much more concise manner than I do. That is what I like about his blog and that is also what makes me jealous. Your Gut is More Ethical Than Your Brain is a good reminder that we tend to approach judgement and decision making in a less than optimal way.
A friend of mine directed me towards this essay; The Terrible Bargain We Have Regretfully Struck, written by Melissa McEwan. I do not know Melissa McEwan and have not read any of her writing before. I am not sure what to even say about this piece that will do it justice. I read a lot of stuff, on-line and off. I rarely read stuff that punches me in the belly…this did. Gender, privilege, oppression, courage, fear…its all here.
I also enjoyed this post on The Importance of Failure, by Marco Tabini. Failure can be a terribly valuable thing, but our framework and understanding of failure are so twisted and delusional that we rarely benefit from it the way that we could. The “failure is not an option” approach to life is dishonest and poorly informed.
And finally Muslims, Ramadan and the Workplace – a guide for HR on Jim Stroud’s blog with insights from Neil Payne of Kwintessential. Timely and valuable with lnks to additional resources.
Enjoy. And be good to each other.
Thanks for mentioning my article "The Lost Art of Listening." An important subject for all of us.
Perhaps you could correct the "Danniel" Lewis to Dennis Lewis, which is my correct name.
Thank you.
Dennis Lewis