For many, rain is viewed as a negative thing. We hide from rain under umbrellas. Getting wet in the rain has associations with sickness, colds and flu. It “gets into our bones” and makes us suffer. Look at the faces of people who wait for the bus as rain pours down. There are no smiles, only misery and the desire to be out of the horrid stuff as soon as possible. It is clear that a culture’s attitude toward rain is largely based on how much of it is seen.
In the West it has become an inconvenience, something that gets in the way of our day. Head to Africa and other hotspots around the world and you’ll see a difference. Rain is welcomed, sometimes literally with open arms. People who haven't seen rain for years will rush out into the open and soak themselves with that precious liquid. Smiles and laughter can be seen everywhere. In fact, in drought-ridden Botswana, the word for rain, pula, is also the name of the currency, which helps to solidify the position of importance rain holds.
While our blushing brides wouldn’t want rain to pour down by the bucketsful on their special day, it is a sign of good fortune in many cultures. People around the world believe that rain falling on your wedding day is a sure sign that your marriage will be blessed with fertility and good fortune. On the opposite side of life, if it rains during a funeral, and rain falls on the casket, it is generally taken to mean that the soul has arrived safely in the Afterlife. In Bali, light rain during a religious ceremony is seen as a blessing from the happy gods. In Maori legend, rain and mist are the sorrow of the Earth and Sky.
In the ancient ritual, the Simchat Beit Ha’sho-ay-vah, Jews celebrate the pouring of water onto the Temple during Sukkot. Using water on the altar was another way to put in a request on high for a good, wet year. The Talmud pictures God saying, “Pour water before me so that your yearly rain be blessed.”
Judeo-Christians look to the story of Noah to base their beliefs of the negativity of rain. In the story of Noah, God was angry and brought his anger down in the form of forty days and nights of unceasing rain, choosing only to spare the favored family of Noah. The tradition was picked up in Shakespearean literature. For example, the rainstorm in King Lear marked the high point of Lear's madness. Throughout the whole of The Tempest, rain is seen as a negative thing, a sign of trouble.
Even in modern weather reports, the negative connotations of rain holds firm. When a storm is on the way, weather reporters sound almost apologetic when bringing this news to us. To be “in the eye of the storm” is to put oneself in great danger. To experience "the calm before the storm" is to know that danger is coming.
Interestingly enough, Native American views of rain vary. To the Anasazi tribe, rain is a sacred gift from the Rain God. Artwork from the tribe shows the Rain God as a benevolent figure who lovingly bestows rain on his loyal followers. The Cherokee tribe, performed rain dances to both induce precipitation and to cleanse evil spirits from the earth. The legend of the tribe holds that the rain summoned by the tribe contains the spirits of past tribal chiefs, who, when falling, battle evil spirits in the transitional plane between our reality and the spirit world. It was also believed that particularly elaborate rain dances could inspire the participants, as well as audience, to take part in unusual and extreme acts of worship. The Native American myth, Why it Rains, tells the tale of Morning Dove and how the hatred, jealousy and greed of warring tribes broke the hearts of the gods manifested in tears of rain.
In Great Britain, many people find the scent during and immediately after rain especially pleasant or distinctive. The source of this scent is petrichor, an oil produced by plants, then absorbed by rocks and soil, and later released into the air during rainfall. In addition, Great Britain gained its reputation for being a rainy country due to the fact that the Western coast of Britain can receive anywhere from 40-100 inches of rainfall a year. This is a stark contrast to the Southern and Eastern parts of the country which are much drier. In fact, the southeast of England receives less annual rainfall than Beirut.
Seattle, Washington, known as the birthplace of grunge music and Starbucks, is also known as one of the rainiest cities in the USA. The fact is, they only receive an average 37 inches of rainfall a year. This is less than the Big Apple itself, as New York City receives 46 inches a year. Melbourne, Australia suffers a similar fate to Seattle. It is widely regarded as the rainiest city in Australia; however, its annual rainfall of 21 inches pales in comparison to Sydney's 43 inches.
The wettest spot on Earth is Mount Waiʻaleʻale, the second highest point on the island of Kauaʻi in the Hawaiian Islands, averaging more than 426 inches of rain a year since 1912, with a record 683 inches in 1982. Although the 38-year average at Mawsynram, Meghalaya, India is 467.4 in., its rainfall is concentrated in the monsoon season, while the rain at Waiʻaleʻale is more evenly distributed through the year, thus making it THE wettest spot.
So whether you consider rain a depressing bringer of danger and doom, or a comforting promise of happiness, beliefs are as diverse as the people who made them fascinating. Rain underpins our lives and its dearth or abundance shapes the way a culture views the bounty from the skies.
As a child, I often danced in the rain. As an adult, given the opportunity, I often still do. Nature, in all its wonder, can and does touch the hearts, minds and bodies of anyone and everyone willing to take a moment and connect.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Creativity is Good for Your Health
A study conducted by Dr. Gene D. Cohen of George Washington University suggests the health effects of participating in music, art, dance and poetry programs. The results: People got healthier and happier.
"After a year, we saw actual improvement," says Gene D. Cohen of George Washington University, who headed the study of about 300 men and women over age 65. The study, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Institute of Mental Health and other organizations, took place in three cities, Washington, D.C., Brooklyn, N.Y., and San Francisco.
Half of the people in the study engaged in the cultural programs, the other half were the “control group." Both groups were similar in health and lived alone. Both groups were monitored on a range of measures from physical strength to mental health and social behavior.
Preliminary findings indicated impressive benefits of a creative fitness regimen. After a year, those in the cultural study group were healthier than they were when the study began. They were also in better shape than those in the control group. They reported better overall health, fewer doctor visits, less use of medications, and fewer falls and hip damage. They also reported less depression, less loneliness and higher morale.
All this suggests that mental activities play a significant role in health. It's common sense that diet and exercise matter to health, but it's nice to know that throwing paint on a canvas or writing a poem matters, too….maybe just as much.
"After a year, we saw actual improvement," says Gene D. Cohen of George Washington University, who headed the study of about 300 men and women over age 65. The study, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Institute of Mental Health and other organizations, took place in three cities, Washington, D.C., Brooklyn, N.Y., and San Francisco.
Half of the people in the study engaged in the cultural programs, the other half were the “control group." Both groups were similar in health and lived alone. Both groups were monitored on a range of measures from physical strength to mental health and social behavior.
Preliminary findings indicated impressive benefits of a creative fitness regimen. After a year, those in the cultural study group were healthier than they were when the study began. They were also in better shape than those in the control group. They reported better overall health, fewer doctor visits, less use of medications, and fewer falls and hip damage. They also reported less depression, less loneliness and higher morale.
All this suggests that mental activities play a significant role in health. It's common sense that diet and exercise matter to health, but it's nice to know that throwing paint on a canvas or writing a poem matters, too….maybe just as much.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Tribal Wisdom: Lessons for Leaders
The role of the leader is to bring the tribe from darkness by reminding the people about who they once were and who they can be. So begins the film Whale Rider, the modern day myth of a Maori girl, Pai, and her emotional journey to become the leader of her impoverished tribe. The story is a powerful metaphor of what ails much of corporate leadership, which is in desperate need of renewal.
Tribal leaders know that once the tribe loses its collective sense of meaning, its survival is at risk. They also know how to help their communities find and renew an individual and collective sense of identity.
Rites of passage marking critical life transitions are a hallmark of tribal societies. Whether moving from childhood to adulthood, getting married or integrating warriors back into their communities, rites of passage were designed to help people navigate those difficult times when one identity faded and a new one took its place.
Organizations often promote people and expect them to figure it out for themselves, not recognizing the significant thinking and emotional shifts needed to become effective leaders. With the decimation of middle management, there are no longer the role models—the “elders”—to emulate, especially for first-time leaders. The result is confusion, alienation, cynicism and resentment. In most organizations, with the increasing focus on task accomplishment and meeting short-term profit goals, leaders don’t value the tasks of leadership—setting a vision, engaging others, coaching and establishing priorities for others. If they’re honest with themselves, they’ll admit they usually get more satisfaction out of doing the job themselves and getting the recognition, than they do from seeing other people be successful. Simply stated, they’ve missed the rite of passage from worker to manager, from manager to leader.
In the same way that rites of passages help individuals form new, more mature identities, tribal myths help the group find its identity. They speak to questions that lay at the core of the tribe: where they came from and what their destiny is. The mythical stories that tribal leaders tell unite the individual with the community and give vital powers to the tribe—hope, reassurance and inspiration. They are powerful tools to create aligned behavior in a group.
As anthropologist Richard Leaky said, “Myths were one of the most important inventions of homo sapiens, as they became the means by which prescriptions for survival could be passed on from generation to generation.” Myths help tribe members face their individual and collective concerns. By providing role models in the guise of the mythic hero, they give guidance on how to make it through difficult times. They also let people know what challenges—physical and psychological—they can expect along the way. Through their power, tribal leaders acknowledge in a deep and compelling way the group’s shared sense of struggle to overcome difficult obstacles and achieve something important—a strong message that is just as relevant in corporate boardrooms as it was to any tribe throughout history seeking to survive.
Through myths, tribal leaders summon followers to become part of the larger life drama. Winston Churchill’s appeal to the Greater Glory of Britain, for example, struck to the core of each citizen’s identity at a time when it was at risk of being erased from history. We all live the heroic life. Whether it was the farmer in ancient Egypt struggling against the flooding Nile River, or the executive closing a complex business deal, the world’s great myths carry the same universal theme of the hero’s journey. From innocence to maturity, from selfishness to compassion, from birth to death, heroic myths explain to people the grand cycles of their lives.
The most powerful myths are those that speak to the hero in each of us. We carry the hero within us that seeks to take on difficult challenges, driven by an inner passion that transcends our current challenges and self-doubts, a hero who seeks to achieve the impossible and who is willing to suffer the hardships, setbacks and loneliness of the journey in order to realize that deep, inner calling. Leaders appeal to our sense of identity calling. They create meaning by appealing to our sense of identity and our individual journey.
Dan Goleman, author of Primal Leadership, relates how an executive with the BBC used these principles in addressing a group of journalists that management had decided to lay off. He spoke about the importance of journalism to the vibrancy of a society and of the calling that had drawn them all to the field in the first place. He reminded them that no one goes into journalism to get rich. He recalled a time in his own career when he had been let go and how he had struggled to find a new position, but how he had stayed dedicated to the profession. Finally, he wished them well in getting on with their careers. When this resonant leader finished speaking, the staff cheered.
Like a tribal chief, this leader created the grand stage that gave deeper meaning to a difficult event. As James Hollis, a noted Jungian analyst said, “Leaders are not meant to divert us from our own journey, but rather to remind us of it.”
Throughout time, the moral obligations of leaders have centered around preserving the community’s identity so it would never lose its sense of meaning and direction. Tribal leaders clearly understand that they have a moral obligation to the community they served. At its core, that is what leadership in any age is about. Tribal leaders practice this moral imperative by providing a sense of historical perspective, so that each member of the tribe can interpret his or her actions in the moment against a bigger world that they have not experienced.
In doing so these leaders give people a broader set of options from which to choose. Tribal leaders tell stories of the “ancient ones”—those mysterious first people from whom stems the tribe’s source of creativity, power and uniqueness. In doing so, tribal leaders connect the tribe to their emotional source so that each member’s personal journey can be subsumed by the tribe’s collective journey. That is how tribal leaders compel others to act—by helping other see their role in the grander flow of the tribe’s destiny.
At its core, that is what leadership in any age is about—engaging others by sharing wisdom, modeling the right values, instilling courage in difficult times and increasing the competence of the tribe.
Look at Walt Disney’s original vision statement for Disneyland and you will see the embodiment of that same universal power that set something wonderful in motion:
“To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past...and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America...with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”
As I think about our political leaders, some have much to learn from tribal wisdom. For if they did, public option healthcare would not be an issue, it would be a given.
Tribal leaders know that once the tribe loses its collective sense of meaning, its survival is at risk. They also know how to help their communities find and renew an individual and collective sense of identity.
Rites of passage marking critical life transitions are a hallmark of tribal societies. Whether moving from childhood to adulthood, getting married or integrating warriors back into their communities, rites of passage were designed to help people navigate those difficult times when one identity faded and a new one took its place.
Organizations often promote people and expect them to figure it out for themselves, not recognizing the significant thinking and emotional shifts needed to become effective leaders. With the decimation of middle management, there are no longer the role models—the “elders”—to emulate, especially for first-time leaders. The result is confusion, alienation, cynicism and resentment. In most organizations, with the increasing focus on task accomplishment and meeting short-term profit goals, leaders don’t value the tasks of leadership—setting a vision, engaging others, coaching and establishing priorities for others. If they’re honest with themselves, they’ll admit they usually get more satisfaction out of doing the job themselves and getting the recognition, than they do from seeing other people be successful. Simply stated, they’ve missed the rite of passage from worker to manager, from manager to leader.
In the same way that rites of passages help individuals form new, more mature identities, tribal myths help the group find its identity. They speak to questions that lay at the core of the tribe: where they came from and what their destiny is. The mythical stories that tribal leaders tell unite the individual with the community and give vital powers to the tribe—hope, reassurance and inspiration. They are powerful tools to create aligned behavior in a group.
As anthropologist Richard Leaky said, “Myths were one of the most important inventions of homo sapiens, as they became the means by which prescriptions for survival could be passed on from generation to generation.” Myths help tribe members face their individual and collective concerns. By providing role models in the guise of the mythic hero, they give guidance on how to make it through difficult times. They also let people know what challenges—physical and psychological—they can expect along the way. Through their power, tribal leaders acknowledge in a deep and compelling way the group’s shared sense of struggle to overcome difficult obstacles and achieve something important—a strong message that is just as relevant in corporate boardrooms as it was to any tribe throughout history seeking to survive.
Through myths, tribal leaders summon followers to become part of the larger life drama. Winston Churchill’s appeal to the Greater Glory of Britain, for example, struck to the core of each citizen’s identity at a time when it was at risk of being erased from history. We all live the heroic life. Whether it was the farmer in ancient Egypt struggling against the flooding Nile River, or the executive closing a complex business deal, the world’s great myths carry the same universal theme of the hero’s journey. From innocence to maturity, from selfishness to compassion, from birth to death, heroic myths explain to people the grand cycles of their lives.
The most powerful myths are those that speak to the hero in each of us. We carry the hero within us that seeks to take on difficult challenges, driven by an inner passion that transcends our current challenges and self-doubts, a hero who seeks to achieve the impossible and who is willing to suffer the hardships, setbacks and loneliness of the journey in order to realize that deep, inner calling. Leaders appeal to our sense of identity calling. They create meaning by appealing to our sense of identity and our individual journey.
Dan Goleman, author of Primal Leadership, relates how an executive with the BBC used these principles in addressing a group of journalists that management had decided to lay off. He spoke about the importance of journalism to the vibrancy of a society and of the calling that had drawn them all to the field in the first place. He reminded them that no one goes into journalism to get rich. He recalled a time in his own career when he had been let go and how he had struggled to find a new position, but how he had stayed dedicated to the profession. Finally, he wished them well in getting on with their careers. When this resonant leader finished speaking, the staff cheered.
Like a tribal chief, this leader created the grand stage that gave deeper meaning to a difficult event. As James Hollis, a noted Jungian analyst said, “Leaders are not meant to divert us from our own journey, but rather to remind us of it.”
Throughout time, the moral obligations of leaders have centered around preserving the community’s identity so it would never lose its sense of meaning and direction. Tribal leaders clearly understand that they have a moral obligation to the community they served. At its core, that is what leadership in any age is about. Tribal leaders practice this moral imperative by providing a sense of historical perspective, so that each member of the tribe can interpret his or her actions in the moment against a bigger world that they have not experienced.
In doing so these leaders give people a broader set of options from which to choose. Tribal leaders tell stories of the “ancient ones”—those mysterious first people from whom stems the tribe’s source of creativity, power and uniqueness. In doing so, tribal leaders connect the tribe to their emotional source so that each member’s personal journey can be subsumed by the tribe’s collective journey. That is how tribal leaders compel others to act—by helping other see their role in the grander flow of the tribe’s destiny.
At its core, that is what leadership in any age is about—engaging others by sharing wisdom, modeling the right values, instilling courage in difficult times and increasing the competence of the tribe.
Look at Walt Disney’s original vision statement for Disneyland and you will see the embodiment of that same universal power that set something wonderful in motion:
“To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past...and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America...with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”
As I think about our political leaders, some have much to learn from tribal wisdom. For if they did, public option healthcare would not be an issue, it would be a given.