Celebration of Elevation
Friends!
What a great response to last week's post. Perhaps the most thoughtful, engaging, and heartfelt notes I have received yet. I truly appreciate the outpouring of ideas and support. It was also notable that many of you commented on the tone of vulnerability in that post. As observed by Brené Brown, vulnerability has nothing to do with shame or weakness, but rather is a necessary foundation for progress. Any journey of recovery MUST begin with a truthful assessment of reality. However, grim, dark, or painful that truth might be. It is when we obscure facts and start to create a false narrative that we often get in serious trouble – individually and collectively. I am lucky to feel safe calling it the way I see it, and it is not lost on me that this growing community enables that feeling of trust and comfort. For that, I am truly grateful.
This week, I want to highlight the very essence of this newsletter series. ELEVATION. I love that word. Have you noticed?
Elevation is tied to my passion for purpose. For the higher ground. For talking about forests and not just trees. In my heart, I have such a yearning for identifying purpose in the midst of chaos.
I think we all find ourselves at this time longing for more belonging and to connect to something bigger than ourselves. I believe our completely dysfunctional and divisive political landscape is primarily suffering from a lack of elevation. We’re so stuck; stuck in just trying to win the daily Twitter wars and how to shame the other side the most rather than figuring out how to elevate the electorate? Many of our leaders seem to have lost their vision completely. My mentor, Charles Handy, called this out years ago so eloquently by saying:
"Where there is no vision, you find short-termism, for then there is no reason to compromise today for an unknown tomorrow."
When you feel elevated, you typically think longer. Your eyes are cast forward. Your view is on the future. And each detail of the present becomes more manageable, simply because they can be organized as pieces of a bigger puzzle rather than just pieces looking to fit anywhere. Without being elevated, it is like navigating without a map. The terrain becomes much less understandable. You feel confused and with a lost sense of direction. It's disorienting and it is debilitating.
I referenced Jessica's TEDxChicago event recently. The first talk has now been posted, and it is the perfect connection to this theme, since Bela Gandhi talks so powerfully about the key to finding lasting love. What topic could possibly be more important?
Her answer: ELEVATOR PEOPLE™
I won't spoil the plot, but I’ll simply encourage you to watch it, like it, share it, spread it, and together, let's try to live it. The link to her talk can be found below.
I have always been inspired by Scott Peck's beautiful definition of love.
"The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth."
When I see people in love, I see people making each other better. Some people lift you up. Literally, figuratively, or spiritually. Or, sometimes all of them. They are wonderful to be around. Some are also lucky enough to marry one of them. I know for sure I did. Thank you, Jessica. And, of course, from there, our kids and grandkids. They elevate me just by their sheer existence.
I am also lucky to have been raised by elevator parents who, with expectations, support, and encouragement, helped me gain experiences I never would have had without them. Finally, my friends and business partners are elevator people personified. I am so lucky when I am in your company. You help me be the best I can be.
This is the kind of culture we have to create. An elevator culture. Right now, I am afraid we live in the opposite. I don't even have words for it. Opposite of elevation, you’ll find words like shrinking, undermining, demeaning, depressing, reducing....does that sound familiar?
So, here is the bottom line. Our current public discourse may be the opposite of elevation. But, when we are together surrounded by elevator people it all feels different. Doesn't it? That feeling matters.
So, how do we collectively elevate our conversation? How do we keep that feeling at the center of our discourse? That is what I am hoping to contribute to with these Sunday musings. Please keep on helping me find ways to aim higher!
You definitely elevate me!
Here is Bela Gandhi's superb TEDxChicago Talk from a few weeks ago.
Here is the original Brené Brown TEDx talk on Vulnerability. You probably have seen it, but is worth seeing again!
That's it!
I am going up!
