In Get and Go Real: Renew the Lease, we explored Audacity and Authenticity… as well as linked back to posts on Acceptance, Accountability, Appreciation and Assertiveness. I referenced them all as the “A” Team. I think them worthy of a read and reflect. Why?
First, I deeply believe that character matters more than ever. In these times of historic change, challenge and opportunity alike… our strengths of character (virtues) are called upon like never before. Geopolitically, environmentally, economically… whether we like to admit or not… we are in times of historic reset… and they are not done with us.
The global goals speak thusly to same. Some treat the concept of such reset as something diabolical or conspiratorial. I do not. We have seen reset happen throughout history. Unity, while some believe will “never happen”, has been progressively happening throughout history. We have moved from the Unity of family to clan and tribe to village, town, city, city-state, country, and commonwealth. As the world has proverbially gotten smaller, two forces have been at work; integration and disintegration. What were once enemies have become friends… and conflict on an ever increasingly shrinking planet has become a part of the growing pains. We are struggling with what a global community would look like in the same ways as struggling with what a new federation of states or provinces would look like in the first building of a country. Unity requires work. And it requires character. Gene Roddenberry‘s vision and belief in humanity knew this. Getting to the future will require a global mindset. As a Baha’i, I believe and contend that such a work towards Unity is for the betterment of the world. Indeed, I believe that our very existence depends on it.
Truthfully, I find this world and its history incredibly fascinating. I also believe in what Simon Sinek refers to as the infinite game, in that life ever unfolds. There is no beginning nor end, however inconceivable that might be to any of us. It aligns with my own Baha’i inspired world view.
I say all of this to (a) be clear on my deep, genuine and fiercely held belief in Humanity and its future and (b) say that we are missing still one important member of that “A” team noted above; Awe.
AWE Matters
Whatever one’s faith or none, Awe applies. And, it matters. Awe is amazement. We might hold it for an artist, band, music or movie. We might hold it for scenery and landscape. We might hold it for people or places or life. Awe is awesome. We are amazed by what we perceive.
I have Awe for Mongolian culture, and The Hu. As a man, I have Awe for womanhood. Clearly, I have Awe for the vocals and music of The Hu, Indeed, I have Awe for Mongolia… since childhood. I have Awe for the vocals of Myles Kennedy and the music and vocals of Shinedown.
I have Awe for Cape Spear…. and Gros Morne… and the history of the Heart’s Content Cable Station with and for which my grandfather was Superintendent. I have Awe for my 2010 trip and Pilgrimage to Haifa ,,, and this song, sung there. Oh yes, and I have Awe for Earth and the Cosmos. I have Awe for being Terran on this tiny blue and green marble and “spaceship” in the universe.
Awe is amazement. It bears repeating. It is the mixer for the “A” team. Amidst Acceptance, Accountability, Appreciation, Assertiveness, Audacity and Authenticity, Awe is the straw that mixes the drink and allows us to take it all in. We need Awe to best see ourselves and others… our clients, colleagues, constituents, compatriots and companions. We need Awe to build the kind of practical, powerful Unity that is high functioning, and contributing to a better prosperity. We need Awe to grasp our potential as Humanity, locally and globally… at home, school, work, business and community.
Awe is the magic of seeing deeper… seeing our work and play and service deeper; to understand and appreciate our capacity each day to better the world, or our corner of it. I say it is a prime ingredient for what I refer to as glocalism… working and responding and serving locally, fitting into an ever realized global community. When we understand our living and working as glocal, we see the importance of what we do locally aligning with serving a bigger picture globally. It is having a world embracing vision and mission in your life, if you will. It is what I see in the possibility and reality of those global goals and their potential for us to work locally and together, serving globally… not top down but bottom up. So, how can you practice Awe? How can you see better with it? How can your family, class, team, workplace, business or community practice Awe to make its contribution, leave its mark and help build a better world, locally and globally?
Some questions I might suggest in exploring your own…
- What humbles me and advances my sense of Wonder?
- How can I better set aside time and space to practice Awe?
- What moments in my life have reminded me of the sacredness of this time I have?
- What people and places and ideas and causes leave me in Awe?
- What about my work and service, large or small or in between, provides a sense of Awe?
- What aspects of family and friends give me reason for Awe?
- How could I make Awe a greater part of how I work, serve and live?
For me, I am humbled by the stars and the ocean and wide open spaces. I must needs set aside time this week and weekly to just sit amidst same; my cathedral, if you will. I have a sense of Awe for much of what I have noted above, and for Humanity (not inhumanity). I know the plentitude of moments in my life thus far (with Panda and otherwise) that continue to remind me of the sacredness of this time I have… and what people and places and ideas and causes leave me in such Awe. I know that I am in Awe of the blessing that is teaching and its power to lead, educate, inspire and unite. I marvel at the moments I am reminded thusly. I literally pinch myself in those moments of both learning and teaching alike. I am in Awe of the conversations I get to have… and want more please. I also know what I seek to do in order to advance this sense of Awe… by sharpening the blades and focusing on what and who I most love…. by further engaging sky and ocean and whales and nature… by ever more exploring my music and singing and cartooning… and dancing.
Awe Betters the World
“The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds, through commendable and seemly conduct”. Awe stirs the drink of creating and delivering on something special and making a pure, goodly, commendable and seemly contribution to the world and our own corner of it. Awe. That’s the stuff dreams well built are made of… do that. For me, I will be taking a week’s break from blogging but sharing daily on LinkedIn and Facebook… on that which sets off my own sense of Awe. I hope you check in.
Peace, passion and prosperity…
Barry Lewis Green, The Unity Guy with Epic Engage.
“Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. ― Abraham Lincoln