Friday, June 12, 2015

Wholeness

If you want to become whole,
let yourself be partial. 
If you want to become straight,
let yourself be crooked. 
If you want to become full,
let yourself be empty. 
Tao Te Ching

I once met a colleague who always carried two pens around. When I asked him why he said that once in a meeting his ink ran out as he took notes and he promised himself to never let that happen again. I thought to myself, but that's the whole fun of it, to realize that at that precious moment when the ink dries up that listening is more meaningful than writing. But then I took Japanese lessons and realized that I need to see words to memorize them. So what do you think I do now when I go to my lesson? You guessed it, I take two pens to make sure the ink doesn't run out.

I also used to pick the spot in the middle of a conference room table just as the Asians like to do it. The middle represents wholeness, and thus in my humble opinion true leadership, while the head of the table represents perceived leadership by our Western Society. The other day, however, I was presenting and I realized that it is much harder to make contact with everyone being seated that way. So for the next presentation I will naturally pick the head of the table. So you see that there is no right or wrong, there is only a situation specific way to respond to what is. Give up all expectations and formulas and embrace the wholeness of life.

No comments: