Take Courage Take 2
A Zen Master, Osho, gives a lovely image of courage. He likens it to a small wildflower that has met the challenge of the rocks and stones in its path to grow from the seed to the seedling. It is safe as a seed and can live in this state for years. Then its creative life force is triggered and as a seedling it meets all sorts of barriers to growth and it keeps going to emerge as a flower.
I was at the London Marathon specifically to support a friend who was running. Not only did he, and many others, have to go through the rigour of training for it, he had to raise money to compete. What is so palpable when you watch the Marathon is the courage of the competitors and the determination to complete it. Also palpable is the encouragement of the people who line the streets, acknowledging this courage.
The news, full of economic doom and gloom and crisis, can halt creativity and the fires of courage when in fact it is a time to engage with both. In her book Megatrends 2010, the rise of conscious capitalism, Patricia Aburdene sees that innovation and creativity are key in giving a competitive edge to organisations in today’s market place. As organisations are in fact people, there are two key questions.
How can organisations encourage innovation and creativity even in tough economic times and how as individuals can we respond to the creative spirit that takes us through tough times when our dreams crash down? Creativity and innovation are strongly linked with intuition and require courage to follow its nudges.
Organisations like IBM and Google are now teaching meditation to help people develop their intuitive side. A great way of declaring culturally that intuition, innovation and creativity are important. As people, when work or career plans don’t go as we expect we may need to take stock, think out of normal tramlines, change a time frame, have the courage to hold onto our dream and be with those who encourage our spirit.
What can you do to keep innovation and creativity alive in your self and those around you in these uncertain times? How can you encourage those who are facing change to be true to themselves and trust life will unfold just as the wild flower does? What do you need to be courageous about?
Judith Mills April 2008
For an amazing example of bird courage look up the Glaslyn Ospreys. They have returned to North Wales for the fourth year running. Having spent the winter in Africa, the male arrived at their nest on the 26th March, the same date as last year and his mate 12 hours later. Three eggs have emerged and they are still mating!
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