LP Jacks said, “The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both.

He, she or they… I think this applies to us all… and personally, I have long loved this. That said, in Create and Recreate, I noted “Creation also recreates. Recreation. In creating such, only draw upon what you Soulfully want as content. In so doing, you are leaving old groceries off, keeping those wanted, and adding new curious tastes.” All, I suggest, in pursuit of said vision of Excellence.

Just today, on LinkedIn, I offered this composite blog post on Looking Forward, Living Present. It was and is the result of some of such reflection and re-creation. I humbly but assertively suggest both aforementioned and linked reads. The connection?

Pursuing our “vision of Excellence” is, in part, born of looking back to look forward… and taking stock of the territory of the country that is our life that we have covered to date. We get to leave those “old groceries off, keeping those wanted, and adding new curious tastes”. We get to consider that to which we seek to return, that to which we do not, and that new territory we seek to explore.

Consciously reflecting on (a) what we choose to take with us from our past excursions in the country of our life and (b) that to which we find ourselves curiously driven… this fosters our capacity to pursue our very own vision of Excellence.

In 1988-89, I wrote to and received back from three cartoonists I most admired, and I attended my Dale Carnegie Instructor Training Conference in Bellevue Washington. I kept a dollar I had at that Conference and the letters from Charles M. Schulz, Lynn Johnston and Berkeley Breathed, Some 34 years later, I am finally exploring more deeply my long held passion for cartooning with a comic strip to be developed this year, and I am getting back to some of the very things that first inspired me to engage leadership training and development. For me, I am at that place. Gut, keep and add … in pursuit of my own ever advancing and evolving sense of Excellence.

I am reminded of these words of Abdu’l-Bahá, “In the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, it is incumbent upon every soul to acquire a trade and an occupation. For example, I know how to weave or make a mat, and you know some other trade. This, in itself is an act of worship, provided that it is conducted on the basis of utmost honesty and faithfulness.” This speaks to me of the importance of finding our best trade, craft, science, art, occupation or Service; in our very own pursuit of our vision of Excellence. Cartooning and Mentorship are resonating for me, in my Soul.

How about you? Consciously reflect on what you choose to take with you from your past excursions in the country of your life …. and that to which you find yourself curiously driven. As a friend, colleague and mentor once said, “Curiosity is a gentler form of passion”. Follow such. This will ever better foster capacity to pursue your own vision of Excellence. Peace. 😉

Barry Lewis Green, The Unity Guy with Epic Engage.

Me on LinkedIn

Developing Leadership Character – Ivey Business Journal

The Virtues Project 

Epic Engage

Global Goals

“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