Enabling Trust

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

It's surprisingly simple.  What enables Trust?  Honesty.  When honesty and transparency are missing, trust is missing, too.  

All forms of authenticity require a journey, and even being honest about that helps to enable trust.

Life is often confusing, especially in times like these.  Open vulnerability, including admitting mistakes, is all a part of the journey to trust.  And forgiveness.  Which leads to even greater trust.

We need more of this, not less.

Spring Tree photo by Susan Larison Danz.

Stereotypes

"As Napoleon once said 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?'" ~ Dan Brown

Looking at History through the lens of what people chose to write about is an increasingly interesting pursuit for me.  Sometimes the descriptions surrounding a particular writer or an era of writing speak to me of our own times.  Today in an American Literature book, I was fascinated to read that not all Puritans, in fact many Puritans, did not fit the stereotype of a Puritan that I have essentially been taught since childhood.  

I was surprised to read this in an introduction:  "Puritans in general were lovers of life, their clergy were well-educated scholars in whom the Renaissance lamp of humanism still burned.  They did not forbid gaily colored clothes if they could get them..."  This passage did not neglect to mention that there were indeed harsh things that happened within Puritan culture, but that was not the entire story.  It said that many Puritans even drank in moderation, enjoyed the arts and made several advances in education that we tend not to think about (like creating Harvard).

History is far more nuanced than we tend to know.

 

Tree photo by Susan Larison Danz.

Blossoming in Place

 "Bloom where you are planted." ~ Saint Francis de Sales

This particular lesson has returned to me many times in my life.  I recall first seeing it as a child, and I know it was written on something in the home where I grew up, but I can't quite recall where. 

I was reminded of it today.  Wherever we find ourselves, we can still blossom.  We are here on Earth to grow.

Flower photo by Susan Larison Danz.

Staying on the Path

"Listen to simplicity. Its gentle voice has much to say." ~ Susan Larison Danz

Every once in a while, we think perhaps we are headed in a particular new direction.  Then, all of a sudden, something happens to shift it.  It may shift it slightly.  It may shift it dramatically.  The key question in the process is:  Are we listening all along the way?

This happened to me today, with something I had tentatively planned (unrelated to my work), and it sure seemed like things were heading that way, but then I felt things begin to change, and as I listened and aligned with how this felt, I realized this particular change in direction was feeling less likely, and less necessary.  And circumstances became stronger, positively supporting the current path. 

And I realized:  All is well.

 

Forest path photo by Susan Larison Danz. 

Hope, Revisited

"To the poor loveless ever-anxious crowd, 

Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth

A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud       

Enveloping the Earth" 

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Today's Frontier Beyond Fear broadcast explored Hope:

We could all use some time reflecting on Hope.  Host Susan Larison Danz shares how we can find our way to Hope, no matter what is going on in our lives or our world.

A portion of the poem Dejection: An Ode is read and discussed as a part of this program.  It is very approachable for all listeners and was written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1802.  Samuel lived 1772-1834 and struggled with a number of things in his life - heartbreak, financial failure, doubt and serious addiction - and yet he writes of how he looks for hope and joy in this poem.  There is also a brief reference in this program to the phrase "Hope springs eternal", written by Alexander Pope.  When we read literature, we find it is more approachable than we realize, and we can learn so many things useful for improving our lives and world today through studying the writing of imperfect lives in imperfect times, just as our own lives and times are imperfect.

Listen to the podcast here:  Reflections on Hope

 

Azaleas photo by Susan Larison Danz.

 

 

Reflections on Hope

 "Hope springs eternal..." ~ Alexander Pope

Listen live to The Frontier Beyond Fear broadcast Saturday at 1 PM PDT/4 PM EDT (or to the podcast at the same link afterwards):  Reflections on Hope

 

 

 

Flower photo by Susan Larison Danz.

Coincidentally....

"The most important things are the hardest to say." ~ Stephen King

Oddly related to what I had to say yesterday about free expression, I had an experience today, and in a respectful and compassionate, yet relatively open and honest way, which I hope is a "glitch", in which some private messages in a conversation on a social media platform mysteriously vanished.  It's been several years since this particular platform has been "glitchy" in that way, and so I wondered.

I do hope it is simply a random glitch.  And even if it is, do you see how we have all become more sensitive to such things?  And why?

And so it is I'm here again, writing.   And will find more ways, not less.