Category Archives: culture

Unity Across Difference

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NaBloPoMo 2020 – Today’s Lesson

Tonight we pray for the injured Northwestern Wildcat football player.

What place has prayer in sports?  I don’t take a position here; I’m wondering. 

NU played Michigan State today.  Two players collided head on.  The Wildcat went down and did not get up.  The medical team attended immediately and Hubs saw the C-collar come out, never a good sign.  After several more minutes, it appeared the whole team gathered on the field in a still, vigilant scrum.  Heads bowed, hands grasped shoulders.  They’re praying, I realized. 

For better or worse, my first reaction was to wonder if that was okay with everybody on the team.   Do you think it was for better, or for worse?  Why?  Why do I even wonder about the distinction?  I assign it as neither (or both)—I choose simply to observe it, hold it with curiosity and not judgment.  I may entertain various stories about it, perhaps accepting all somewhat and none fully.

A second later I felt reassured, even inspired.  I don’t know anything about NU Football team culture.  I choose the story, however, that it’s the kind in which anyone asked to gather and express solidarity with a fallen teammate does so without hesitation.  “I will pray for your healing,” and, “Please pray for me,” said earnestly by a faithful player to an atheist one, can be received as an expression of caring and a request for support, respectively, rather than impositions of one’s beliefs on the other.  We bow our heads and grasp each other’s shoulders to show reverence and cohesion.  When one of us is hurt, traumatized, or otherwise suffering, it shouldn’t matter what religion we practice or not. 

We help however we know how.  Because we are a team.

Roots

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Paraphrase: “No matter how big the world gets; (we) still want/need to return home”

NaBloPoMo 2020 – Today’s Lesson

I love my Chinese and Asian heritage.

Do you have Netflix?  What did you get it for?  Daughter wanted it for “Avatar: The Last Air Bender” after we watched the first season on Amazon Prime.  Son wanted it just to have more access to movies.  I resisted.  I finally got it to watch “The Social Dilemma,” as if I could not be an informed citizen without it.  Now we (benefit) from everything on the site. *sigh*

I got into Avatar, not against my will, but not on purpose.  And I’m happy about it.  The voices are all American, but the animation and ethos are Asian.  I’m told the ‘bending’ styles of the four elemental tribes (earth, water, air, fire) are each inspired by a different form of martial art.  The movements of the characters reminded me of old kung fu movies from childhood.  The philosophical expressions also rang familiar.  It was all rather comforting, I bonded with Daughter, and I was sad when it ended.

Then we watched “A Silent Voice”.  I learned that in Asian films dubbed into English, the spoken and subtitled words are different.  Interesting.  Both kids already knew.

Now we’re into “It’s OK to Not Be OK”, which is Korean.  We read the subtitles.  I love seeing people who look like me, even though I don’t understand their language.  There’s only one season.  We will watch a classical Chinese drama next, “Eternal Love”.  That will surely take me back to “Chu Liu Xiang”, my favorite kung fu soap opera ever, whose lead actor at one time (think Dr. Who) shared my last name, 鄭.

Joy Luck Club, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Crazy Rich Asians… How joyous to rediscover some roots, and share them with the kids, too.

Ask Me Anything

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NaBloPoMo 2020 – Today’s Lesson

Ozan Varol’s Inner Circle is still going strong.  I visit every day to see what people are doing.  Jeff has recently picked up ukulele playing.  Prior to this week I would have spelled ukulele totally wrong.  Ozan will host an Ask Me Anything (AMA) call next week, and solicited questions in advance.  I submitted three.  I never ask questions that I’m unwilling to answer myself, so here goes:

What are you working/playing on now?

Working on:  Mindful, Humble, and Learning Leadership.  Every day feels so intense right now, every encounter important.  I know I’m messing up, but I don’t always notice right away.  So I’m working on awareness, prevention, and accountability.

Playing on:  Piano.  I love our baby grand, and wish daily to commune with it.  Gotta wait for the kids to be up, and when the hubs is not on a call.  I’ll get good at this one song, maybe two, and keep going from there.

What really stands out to you about this year?

Disparity.  Clarity.  Reality.  Humanity.  Never before has it been more clear to me who we are, how we relate, and how everything is interconnected.  Core values, minimum requirements, and default priorities emerge, sometimes in harsh light.  We are called now to be deeply honest, and better.

What unexpected lesson are you really grateful to have learned in 2020?

I have a long way yet to go in truly living out my ideals.  Once again, I see that diligent study and cognitive understanding do not necessarily translate into limbic motivation or competent ability.  But I’m already stronger in my self-compassion practice, understanding that most skills require training to hone, and competence derives from cumulative experience.  So I’m okay.

Hope Ozan finds these questions as fun as I did.