What I Stand For
“And what is good, Phaedrus,
And what is not good —
Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?”
Values
“Truth, Respect, Courage, Compassion, Humility”
I believe that if we live our lives by our values in everything we do, in every interaction we have with another being, human or non-human, then we can live a full and well life, and make our best contribution to making the world a better place. My values are Truth, Respect, Courage, Compassion and Humility and though it’s impossible to always be perfect, I strive to live by those values every moment of every day. When I stumble, I learn.
Be Kind
Just be kind, to everyone, to every being, every thing.
People are fundamentally good
I believe that humans are fundamentally good and that if we hold to that, we can find goodness in everyone, though it may be buried deeply in layers of childhood trauma, societal pressures, culture, religion, all sorts of stuff that can get in the way of living truly to who we are. If we can help people connect to that goodness, great things can happen.
“I wish that I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.”
No judgement, No changing
It’s OK to judge a person’s actions, and seek to make their actions better, less damaging, but it’s not OK to judge a person, or to seek to change someone. It’s their journey, all you can do is support them to travel it, aligned with who they are. Trust that that’s enough.
Trust your gut, your instinct, your Duck
Listen to your gut, your inner wisdom, your light, the Angel inside, your soul, your Duck, God, whatever you call it, it doesn’t matter. If you can get out of your head and follow the feelings you get from your gut, for sure you’ll make wiser and kinder decisions.
Know, deeply know, that you don’t know
We think we know the answer, but our knowledge of anything is so infinitesimally small, that we’re better off living our life as though we know nothing. If we know that we don’t know, we’re better placed to listen and learn. That opens the path to cooperation and change. Humility is paramount, know, deeply know, that you don’t know.
Do it alone, person to person
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
I’m a great believer in running toward problems and not waiting for someone else to lead the way. Get in there, learn, fail, go again, strive, keep going. That’s how you get there.
Turn to wonder, stay open
If you don’t understand something, someone, or why something is the way it is, don’t rush to judgement. Remember, you know nothing. Instead, turn to wonder, as in “I wonder why they’re like that?” or, “I wonder why that happened?”
Keep going
Just keep going, that’s how you get there
And above all else, get to the bush
Problems and challenges happen in the real world, in bad places, in difficult contexts. You can’t solve them from meeting rooms and especially not from conference halls in grand hotels. Talking is important but until there’s been some walking, in the field, to understand what’s happening in the real world, it gets you nowhere. You’ve got to get to the field, to the bush, the coalface, and understand what’s happening out there before you can even think of a better way. You’ve just got to get to the bush.