Dialogue events postponed until further notice
- Arthur Clark
- Mar 13, 2020
- 4 min read
Last night I looked at the COVID-19 news updates and decided it’s wise and timely to postpone the dialogue events (and also the movie nights) until further notice. I also need to re-focus my priorities, so there’s that silver lining. Another bit of silver is news from China that the outbreak appears to be subsiding https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article241051326.html and of course you can put the current pandemic into the historical context of human experience with such things https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_epidemics
During our recess, let’s stay in touch by email. I’ll append herewith the handout from this past Wednesday in case you missed it.
Toot sweet,
Arthur
Wisdom We Wish We’d Had When We Were Younger
In his book The Great Turning, and drawing from the work of developmental psychologists, David Korten delineates five stages of human consciousness, beginning with magical consciousness in the infant (everything happens magically). About the age of five comes the imperial consciousness: Everything is controlled by powerful people like mom and dad so I must please them and things will go well. About the age of eleven or twelve, the youngster wants to achieve acceptance in their group. This is a major feature of the socialized consciousness, in which the norms or values of the group powerfully influence thought and behavior. If the individual experiences other societies and cultures as they mature, they may progress – typically in their twenties or early thirties if they get there at all - to the cultural consciousness, in which that diversity of cultural norms and values is accepted and appreciated as a good thing. Perhaps in middle age or later, some people may attain the fifth and highest stage of consciousness, the spiritual consciousness, in which they are at peace with all they experience. The Stoics had expressed it something like this: The wise person does not wish things to be other than what they are.
To take this wisdom to someone who has not quite reached that altitude, one might say this (paraphrasing things various Stoics have said: Whenever you experience something that upsets you, it is not the thing itself but your reaction to it that is upsetting. Therefore, work on constantly improving your reactions.
Other Words of Wisdom
If I can stop one heart from breaking, if I can ease one pain, then my life will not have been in vain. - Emily Dickinson
Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others. – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Formula for Success: Underpromise and overdeliver. – Thomas Peters
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself. – Galileo Galilei
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal.
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. – Chinese proverb
From Eknath Easwaran’s book, Your Life is Your Message
Shedding an Old Skin
During the monsoon time in Kerala, the state in South India from which I come, the paddy fields stretch like an endless emerald carpet towards the horizon. It is a time of great growth and joy for all creatures. As a little boy, I used to walk beside my spiritual teacher, my mother’s mother, across those rice fields to our ancestral temple.
As we walked, I would often see the cast-off skin of a snake, lying like a lace ribbon beside the path. One day, I asked Granny, “Why do these snakes have to lose their skin?” Her reply was full of wisdom. I realize now that she was speaking of more than snakes. “If snakes do not shed their skin,” she replied, “they cannot grow. They will suffocate in their old skin.” I often remember her words. Today we too need to grow. The intense restlessness of our young people, the dissatisfaction and stifled idealism which haunts so many older people – these are signs that our society is ready to shed an outworn definition of who we are and what we can become. While I appreciate the attempts made by governments and distinguished groups and some corporations to solve our environmental or social problems, the solution lies ultimately in your hands and mine. What kind of image do we have of ourselves? What is our purpose in living?
By undertaking to answer those questions from our own experience, we will be laying the foundations of a truly sustainable society.
COVID-19 (Corona Virus) Background and Next Steps
We should stay informed about issues related to COVID 19. We could take it as a goal for our dialogue network to stay a little better informed about this than the average Calgarian. Here are some links that may be useful for that purpose: First a Q&A website of the World Health Organization:
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
Next a couple of websites from the Center for Disease Control (CDC)
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/children-faq.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html#cdc-response
and guidelines for staying healthy, also from CDC:
· Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
· Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
· Stay home when you are sick.
· Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
· Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
· Facemasks should be used by people who are presenting symptoms and are not
Recommended for day-to-day use.
· Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
· If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer
with at least 60% alcohol. Washing hands with soap and water is preferable.
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