Dear ones,
the spring has arrived
at long last!
Let us awaken.
Sometimes a profound revelation lies beneath the most ho-hum wrapper, like a corporate strategy slogan. Often these pithy sayings arrive laden with compromise – you can almost feel the eye-rolling meetings that led to their development, the bevy of consultants and facilitators and designers who did their best to polish up the results.
But this week, with one corporate leadership team, the strategy was simply “AND.” We can invest in our employees AND this is good for our profits. We can offer our customers value AND this accelerates amazing new product development. We can contribute in our community AND this supports provide good returns for our investors.
To some this sounds Pollyannaish, and to others it sounds like common sense. But to see the CFO’s eyebrows rise up as he described the better margins that followed wage increases, and how this reframed all of the lessons from his basic financial training…. Well, that was something.
Dear ones, where have we misplaced an OR? Where are we feeling pulled between two things that might actually coexist, or even strengthen one another?
Where could an AND change something big?
Smart AND kind.
Generous AND protective.
Committed AND flexible.
Open AND strong.
Operating margins are the least of it.
Let’s see what might be possible.
Sometimes there is a place or a person or an idea that just lifts us up, a refuge where we know we can exhale and rest and feel safe. It’s easy to appreciate these shelters in times of strain, like the friend who calls at just the right time, or the poem that recognizes a deep sorrow, or the path that leads us through the woods to a sunny clearing.
But a refuge is not a hiding place.
The hidden power of these refuges (places and people and poems) is that they also the spots where we can shine forth in all of our glory. Our shelterers know that they aren’t doing us a favor. They are recognizing our singular and universal awesomeness, allowing it to strengthen and thrive.
Dear ones, may we be all rest on foundations of flourishing.
May we offer the same to others.
And when we all blaze forth,
may we bask in the light.
Brene Brown’s commentary on empathy vs. sympathy is full of wisdom on this front. “Wanna sandwich?”
Some times are lumpy with loss. This week two formative teachers passed away, Madeleine Korbel Albright and Edward C. Johnson III. I could tell how Secretary Albright delighted groups of young students at Wellesley with stories of sisterhood and how Mr. Johnson would come to my holiday parties even though I was a Very Unimportant employee of his at the time. I could note how their quotes, “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women” and “we are not here for our own amusement” echo constantly in my mind. I could list dozens of lessons that they taught, not through lecture but through example.
Beyond all of that telling and noting and listing, one common attribute shines through for both of them: sincere, unbridled enthusiasm and curiosity. When Madeleine met a new person, she wanted to know the person, weaving together context and community and connection. When Mr. Johnson encountered a new idea, he wanted to pull it apart and poke at the pieces, seeing what was really new and what rhymed with history.
Dear ones, may we stay awake to the wonders of our world.
May we illuminate them for others.
May we inspire with our attention.
May we be married to amazement.
May we take the world into our arms.
***
Every year in Boston there is the One Sunny Day in March, where everyone bursts outside, awkward in tank tops and flip flops and squinting at the sun. On that day, all the babies are smiling and all the birds are singing and all the bulbs are poking up from underground at long last.
It can seem incongruous to dance during a troubled time in the world. Oblivious, or disrespectful. But joy can be the greatest celebration of life, the most appropriate expression of gratitude, the greatest form of resistance.
Dear ones, if we are able,
let’s rejoice in this day,
no matter the circumstances.
And if we are lucky enough to flower,
let’s bloom our hearts out.