This week:
The Earth’s Prayer
Champion of the Earth
Mental Health Awareness Month is just a few days away. Let’s do our part to help ourselves and one another
Witticisms
Mission Fed ArtWalk 2022
The Earth’s Prayer for Earth Day- A 21st Century Complement to the Lord’s Prayer (written on a trip to Europe 13 years ago in 2009)
Rather than even attempt to outdo perfection, given a world view that extends beyond Christianity, coupled with current Eco-Consciousness, could one take the essence of the Lord’s Prayer and extend its reach and impact to a larger audience?
Our Mother, who is here on Earth,
Timeless may you reign and may we never take your compassion for granted.
The time is now, your spirit be served, with our full intention and energy to create a Planet Earth as abundant and blessed as Heaven.
Give each person today, their daily grain so no one goes hungry, and affirm our inherent goodness to care for one another,
as we give thanks for those who today in their actions put the collective good ahead of personal self-interest and remind us to do the same.
And inspire us in all things to maximize our potential for the greatest good as we preserve and protect the legacy we leave for future generations.
For this is our planet, with problems and possibilities, to do with what we can in the time we have got.
Now is forever. Aum, Peace, Amen
Champion of the Earth!
Sir David Attenborough has been named a Champion of the Earth by the UN’s Environment Programme
The prestigious award recognises the 95-year-old’s commitment to telling stories about the natural world and climate change.
Accepting the award, Sir David said the world must take action now to protect nature and the planet.
Sir David Attenborough named Champion of the Earth by UN – BBC News
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
Mental Health Awareness Month is just a few days away. Let’s do our part to help ourselves and one another
First apologies to all the people experiencing mental health challenges at work.
A global study by Qualtrics found 42% of people have experienced a decline in mental health.
67% of people are experiencing increases in stress while 57% have increased anxiety, and 54% are emotionally exhausted.
53% of people are sad, 50% are irritable, 28% are having trouble concentrating, 20% are taking longer to finish tasks, 15% are having trouble thinking and 12% are challenged to juggle their responsibilities.
Other data suggests that 67% or 7 out of 10 people’s feel that no one checked up on their mental health in the workplace. This is a travesty and unconscionable…
Using the indigenous wisdom traditions of Polynesia and the Ho’oponopono framework, please accept my apologies. As a system we have failed you!
We are very Sorry
We Love & Value You
Please Forgive Us
Thank You!
Authentically Navigating Mental Health in the Workplace is powerful and very relevant work arguably a meta-competency for 21st century leadership and culture and portends the future of HR Leadership!
In a post pandemic environment, Pandora’s Box is opened and there is no stuffing everything back in. Sunlight is the greatest disinfectant.
This might mark the beginning of the demise of a command and control model of running organizations, with the power imbalances and systemic disenfranchisement that goes along with it.
Hell bloodletting was a best practice for over 1,000 years and we got rid of that. How is this any different? We are sucking the lifeblood out of people just using bigger leeches!
If empathy is the #1 leadership skill according to research Empathy Is The Most Important Leadership Skill According To Research (forbes.com)
and communication is the most powerful socio-emotional learning tool, then it is time for a new model that girths all the work we do in stakeholder-centric systems to meet the moment, as well as to counter the great resignation/great migration with the great rejuvenation.
Note: I use stakeholder not employee because all the people in the ecosystem (not ego-system) matter!
No more “othering”…
This is a systems thinking problem not an individual human capital deficiency. People are disengaged and unwell not because they are bad or sick people, but because we have built maladaptive systems.
Think of all the lost potential in every organization ☹
“At the heart of a learning organization is a shift of mind – from seeing ourselves as separate
from the world to connected to the world, from seeing problems as caused by someone or
something ‘out there’ to seeing how our own actions create the problems we experience. A
learning organization is a place where people are continually discovering how they create their
reality. And how they can change it.” — Dr. Peter Senge
Renormalizing “its ok to not be ok” and destigmatizing stigma and shame around mental health is a cultural and paradigm shift in dire need of an intervention.
The piercing pain of the first arrow is hard enough. We don’t need the second arrow.
The parable of the second arrow is a well-known Buddhist story about dealing with suffering more skillfully.
It is said the Buddha once asked a student,
‘If a person is struck by an arrow, is it painful? If the person is struck by a second arrow, is it even more painful?’
He then went on to explain, ‘In life, we can’t always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. This second arrow is optional.’
Let’s equip each other not to create self-inflicting wounds with that darned second arrow!
The Old model of mental health DSM-5 with all its controversies typically focuses on symptomology and severity
The New model must both look at symptoms (low to high) and languishing v. flourishing on another axis
One can have symptoms of “dis-ease” and still be flourishing.
Most of us have symptoms as the data indicates…
The old model of stress was “can I cope”?
The new model recognizes that when demands exceeds resources we experience stress
Now, more than ever, we need to resource our individuals, teams, and organizations better to meet the deep stack of demands that are thrust upon us.
Note: If your organization is looking to up level your resources and apply real world experience to meet the demands of navigating mental health in the workplace, reach out to:
Deborah Urbanik Co-Founder of D.Whitney Consulting durbanik@dwhitneyconsulting.com;
and Jamie Jacobs Co-Founder of Gig Talent jamie@gogigtalent.com
They expanded my understanding and were powerful positive forces of good for me!
Kevin Hines Survived a Jump Off The Golden Gate Bridge- Now, He Is Helping Others Avoid Suicide:
This suicidal person “needs to hear what I needed to hear. That we care about you, your life does matter, and that all we want is for you to stay,” he says. “If someone had looked at me on that bridge or on that bus and said that to me, I would have begged for help.”
Kevin Hines Jumped Off the Golden Gate Bridge, and Survived (psycom.net)
Note: Anyone struggling now with suicide ideation, before you take that action, please call the suicide prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
Here are a couple of articles in the news lately that speak to the implications of not attending to employees mental health needs:
John’s colleague told him he didn’t belong. It was just what he needed to hear : NPR
Self-Care is Not the Solution for Burnout — The Beautiful Truth
And one that speaks to what we can do about it:
Showing That You Care About Employee Wellbeing (gallup.com)
Maybe we can all be “that one person” to borrow from the Kevin Hines story, and all be “psychological safety spreaders” at work and in our community.
“No More Suffering in Silence & Running Away in Shame”!
Love,
Neville
On a Far Lighter Note: Witticisms
These insults are from an era before the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words.
What’s your favorite?
“He had delusions of adequacy ” -Walter Kerr
“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”- Winston Churchill
“I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. – Clarence Darrow
“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”-William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?”- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll waste no time reading it.” – Moses Hadas
“I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” – Mark Twain
“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” – Oscar Wilde
“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one.” -George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
“Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second… if there is one.” – Winston Churchill, in response
“I feel so miserable without you; it’s almost like having you here” – Stephen Bishop
“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” – John Bright
“I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope it’s nothing trivial.” – Irvin S. Cobb
“He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others.” – Samuel Johnson
“He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up. – Paul Keating
“He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.” – Forrest Tucker
“Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?” – Mark Twain
“His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” – Mae West
“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.” – Oscar Wilde
“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts… for support rather than illumination.” – Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
“He has Van Gogh’s ear for music.” – Billy Wilder
“I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But I’m afraid this wasn’t it.” – Groucho Marx
The exchange between Winston Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, “If you were my husband I’d give you poison.” He said, “If you were my wife, I’d drink it.”
“He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.” – Abraham Lincoln
“There’s nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won’t cure.” — Jack E. Leonard
“They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge.” — Thomas Brackett Reed
“He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them.” — James Reston (about Richard Nixon)
If you are local-
| MISSION FED ARTWALK 2022 – CONNECTING CREATIVE COMMUNITIES: |
| For 38 years, Mission Fed ArtWalk has celebrated both visual and performing arts in San Diego. We believe art has the power to connect communities, cultivate new artistic talent and create a better quality of life for all through cultural enrichment. |
| On Saturday, April 30 (11am – 6pm) and Sunday, May 1 (10am – 5pm), artwork will fill the Little Italy neighborhood. Attendees come to view and purchase artwork, enjoy music and dance performances, and participate in interactive art experiences. |
Thanks this week go to Deborah and Haley U, Jamie J, Dan L, and the Mission Fed ArtWalk Team for your contributions!
Please pay it forward and be a Champion of the Earth…
Love,
Neville
“I’ve realized that worry is the product of a future that we cannot guarantee, and guilt is the product of a past we cannot change” – Shailene Woodley
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Happy Soul Food Friday! 