Gratitude | The Direction of Intention

Truly Powerful People (447)

Posted on May 30, 2012 by davidrobinsoncreative

447.
Join me in inspiring truly powerful people. Each day I will add a new thought, story or idea to support your quest and mine.

It turns out that my new friend, the professor of Chinese history, is an historian whose reach far eclipses the annals of China. He can pull from is inner archive a complete history of the most obscure topic. He is a gifted storyteller so his history is more adventure than lesson, more tale than fact. I delight in the stories that bubble from the depths of his history pool. Had I met him when I was younger I might have taken another path.

On our drive to Olympia early this morning I learned that my coffee addiction is thanks to an Ethiopian goat herder of the 9th century. Apparently, according to legend, the goat herder noticed that his goats grew hyperactive – some accounts say the goats jumped – every time they ate the red berries (coffee beans) from a certain plant. The goat herder ate the berries and they made him want to jump, too. He picked the berries, took them to a cleric who deemed them evil and threw them in the fire. Ahhhh. The smell of roasted coffee beans filled the air. The smell was so tempting that the goat herder rescued the beans, ground them, and added hot water! Viola! 12 centuries later I am a coffee addict living in a city with a Starbucks on every corner. My life is richer for the keen eye and happy accident of a long gone goat herder whose heart beat faster when he dared sample a mystery bean. If my family had a coat-of-arms our sigil would be a jumping goat.

In the late 1980’s one of my favorite documentary series was James Burke’s Connections. In each episode he’d trace the ripples of a single innovation through time, how the stirrup started a chain of events that eventually led to the microwave oven (I made that up but you get the point). Jean Houston wrote that we are the burning point of the ancestral ship; we are the living spark of a torch that goes back before recorded time. When I am with my friend the history professor I am reminded how intimately connected I am to ripples in all directions that I can’t even comprehend. I am located in web of meaningful connections. I am a goat herder whose happy accident of a life might send a ripple 12 centuries into the future that could bring joy to the heart of someone I will never know. And, what I love most about that thought is there may be a 33rd century historian who might one day say, “You know where that comes from don’t you?”

Filed under: Gratitude, Story, Truly Powerful People | Tagged: history, innovation | Leave a comment »

Truly Powerful People (446)

Posted on May 29, 2012 by davidrobinsoncreative

446.
Join me in inspiring truly powerful people. Each day I will add a new thought, story or idea to support your quest and mine.

When I was in college my dear friend Roger gave me a copy of Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse. It is an amazing story; a study of what some cultures call the red road and the black road. He said, “This is us. I am Narcissus and you are Goldmund.”

Narcissus is a priest, a teacher, seeking god within the confines of his mind and the institution. His road is prescribed, straight, protected. It has lots of rules. It is well known. This is the black road. It is the road that society recognizes. It is the road that society expects. It is the road of fulfilling expectations.

Goldmund comes to monastery. He is Narcissus’ student; he is restless, a wanderer seeking something indescribable, something that cannot be found in the institution. He seeks with his heart. He leaves the safety of the monastery and has many unpredictable experiences. His life is messy, chaotic, rich and dangerous. His road is twisty, improvisational and unknown. It is natural. It is his road. No one will ever walk this path because it is unique to the walker. This is the red road. This is the road of fulfilling heart’s desire.

The red road is hard. It breaks you down. It opens your eyes and heart to the eternal beyond the temporal. There is no safety on this road; the first thing lost is the illusion of control. The first thing gained is the paradox. This road brings your focus to the present moment.

The black road is hard. It breaks you down. It protects you from too much experience. It keeps your eyes from looking at the ground and heart from seeking the sensual. It is dedicated to safety and the predictable. The first thing lost is the natural impulse, the wild heart of desire. This road separates head from you body. It demands that you keep your focus in the abstractions. It will take you to the big office at the top of the building.

Two roads. Neither is better or worse as both lead to the same place. Roger was right. His road has been within the institution and mine has been undefined. He is at the top of a career and I am wandering a road looking for my next meal. He cannot imagine the life I have chosen and I would have died within the confines of his choices. There are dragons lurking in the weeds of both roads; there are losses and gains either way. I am learning the necessity of rules; he is learning the call of his wild heart. We both die a little bit each day; we both learn a little more. He brings me the wisdom of the anchor; I bring him the wisdom of the wind. I could not ask for a better advisor, counterpart, or friend.

Filed under: Gratitude, Truly Powerful People | Tagged: expectations, heart, path | 3 Comments »

Truly Powerful People (437)

Posted on May 20, 2012 by davidrobinsoncreative

437.
Join me in inspiring truly powerful people. Each day I will add a new thought, story or idea to support your quest and mine.

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of work with teachers and watching these incredible people give their hearts and souls to in service to children has brought to mind the amazing people who’ve had a profound impact on my life – and will never know it.

Jackie Fry was my first art teacher. I took oil painting classes from her at the local rec. center every weekend. I was the youngest person in a class of ancient women (they seemed ancient to my 12 year old eyes though now I am certain I’d see them as kids) and I was duly intimidated. Unlike my classmates I was not a tree or flower painter; I was drawn to paint people. I thought something was wrong with me. Jackie’s first lesson to me was this: she said, “Tree painters are a dime a dozen. Let’s find out what makes you tick and then learn to paint that.” Like all great teachers she set me on a pursuit and then followed, helping me see and paint when I was ready for the lesson. She is at the heart of my belief about great teaching. She was the first person to help me recognize that my thinking clouded my seeing. To see, I needed to see beyond my words and abstractions. She helped me develop and protect my gifts. And she never knew how profound was her impact on my life.

Paul Barnes used to say to actors, “Never underestimate your power to impact other people’s lives.” He was right about that. Not only can we never underestimate our power to impact other people’s lives – we will rarely know when we have impacted other people’s lives. The wisdom Jackie initiated in me has rippled through every person I have taught, every artist I have supported, every CEO I have coached or person I have called friend. She continues to touch lives through me. Our ripples carry forward for decades and we will never know how far or potent is our reach. Her teachers touched my life through her; their strong offer lives within me and I never knew them or heard their names.

That is the point of transformation. Transformation happens in the inner life of an individual – but it is useless until the boon is brought back to the community. Change your story; change the world. Greater self-knowledge impacts the lives of everyone in the community – for generations. That is the power of a teacher. And everyone is a teacher. We may never know our impact but can live, as Paul taught, with an appreciation for the potency of our choices and the reach of our actions.

Filed under: Education, Gratitude, Heroes, Truly Powerful People | 1 Comment »

Truly Powerful People (436)

Posted on May 19, 2012 by davidrobinsoncreative

436.
Join me in inspiring truly powerful people. Each day I will add a new thought, story or idea to support your quest and mine.

I asked Alan to apply his wise-eyes to my workbook for The Ground Truth as I intend to publish it in book form before too long. He is a gifted author and helps me clarify my thoughts when they veer off into space. In the final pages of the book I used one of my early posts about Service and it disturbed him. In the post I wrote that there is a common step that people take when they move into power: they put themselves higher on the priority list. In fact, no one is higher. Alan gently tugged my sleeve and said, “Say more about this. I know what you mean and this is not exactly what you mean. What do you mean exactly?”

I live life at 30,000 feet. I see big pictures and connections. Details are not my thing. Details are like a cornfield that I step into and disappear; as Ana-the-wise might say, details are what I am here to learn. Here is my revision:

There is a common and necessary step when someone moves into their power: They cease serving the needs of others at the expense of their happiness. They step into their center and begin operating from a different kind of priority list: they cease seeking their fulfillment from others and begin living from their fulfillment. Fulfillment is in the offer, not in the reception of the offer. It is a necessary trick of language to make fulfillment a verb, an ongoing action of intention. In a sense, people moving into power honor their needs as a priority and as the means of truly serving others.

This does not mean they stop serving others! In fact, it means that they are capable for the first time in their lives of truly serving others. It is an equation of sorts: when you stop making other people your priority you stop seeking your happiness from their reactions and responses. Your investment shifts. You give for the sake of giving, because it is what you decide to do and not what you need to do to feel useful or valid or worthwhile; your worth is not located in the responses of others. Your worth is no longer at question so you do not need to seek it in the eyes of others.

It is the distinction between service and enabling. It is the step that makes someone truly powerful because they exit the power games. They no longer need to play – to diminish others, triumph over, defeat, negate, or control. They offer their best because it is their best offer. The rest is out of their control and none of their concern.

The devil is in the details and the magic, too. You can’t imagine how grateful I am for all the wise-eyes that surround me. You know who you are.

Filed under: Gratitude, Truly Powerful People | Tagged: Gratitude | 2 Comments »

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