Blind Spot

Everyday, I must ask myself,

What is my Source? From what inner place am I living my life?

(Source of the River Cuervo, Cuenca Province, Spain)

”The best in art and life comes from a center – something urgent and powerful, an idea or emotion that insists on its being. From that insistence, a shape emerges and creates its structure out of passion. If you begin with a structure, you have to make up the passion, and that’s very hard to do.” (Roger Rosenblatt)

“The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervener.”

Two people can act or interact or react in the same way in similar situations BUT the results are never the same. Because what really matters is the interior condition, the motivation, the intention, the Source from which each person is acting. One person can say something to someone and they become outraged. Another person can say something very similar and they are comforted. It is not so much what we say or do or even how we say it or do it. What matters is why we say and do the things that we do. 

What is the Source of my attention and of my intention?

My most basic intention of writing is to shine a spotlight of awareness on my blind spot; the place from which my attention and intention originates and emanates; my interior condition, my source. I need to remember this each and every day; because through lack of consciousness, lack of awareness, by default this is the human blind spot.

What we do and how we do what we do are small matters compared to our state of being, our presence, our mindfulness, that engulfs the why of what we do and how we do what we do. This is our Source.

Oh love that fires the sun, keep me burning.

THE BLIND SPOT

From what Source do our actions emerge? Most of us do not know…

THIS is our blind spot! Individually and collectively…

“The blind spot is the place from which our attention and intention originates. It is the place from which we operate when we do something.”

“We have never systematically looked at the leaders’ work from the blank canvas perspective. The question we have left unasked is: ‘What sources are leaders actually operating from?’

“I first began noticing this blind spot when talking with the late CEO of Hanover Insurance, Bill O’Brien. He told me that his greatest insight after years of conducting organizational learning projects and facilitating corporate change is that the success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervener.

“That observation struck a chord. Bill helped me understand that what counts is not only what leaders do and how they do it but their ‘interior condition,’ the inner place from which they operate or the source from which all of their actions originate.

“The blind spot at issue here is a fundamental factor in leadership and the social sciences. It also affects our everyday social experience. In the process of conducting our daily business and social lives, we are usually well aware of what we do and what others do; we also have some understanding of how we do things, the processes we and others use when we act. Yet if we were to ask the questions ‘From what source does our action come?’ (why) most of us would be unable to provide an answer. We can’t see the source from which we operate; we aren’t aware of the place from which our attention and intention originate.” (Otto Scharmer, Theory U, pp. 6-7) 

In order to see, understand, and nurture our Source dimension, there is significant and critical inner work that each person must do. This is essential.

“So, today, I would summarize the source dimension that Bill O’Brien was pointing me towards by differentiating between three inner places or three capacities that we need to cultivate as change makers, innovators, and leaders.

Open Mind

“The first one is the open mind, by which I mean the capacity to suspend our old habits of judgment– basically, to see with fresh eyes.

Open Heart

“The second one is the open heart, by which I mean the capacity to empathize to redirect our attention— to look at a problem not just from my angle, but also from the angle of the other stakeholders that are involved in the situation.

Open Will

“And number three, to cultivate the open will, which is essentially the capacity to let go and let come— let go of the old and let come of the emerging new possibilities.” (Otto Scharmer, Theory U)

Living with Open Hands is an Expression of an Open Mind, Open Heart, and Open Will.

This is perhaps the first realization I had as I began my journey.

Writing has become a way for me to find my voice

and to give voice to my questions;

a journey from dogmatism and certainty

to inquiry and dialog,

from living with clenched fists to living with open hands.

It is through writing that I have developed the spiritual discipline of opening up and letting go.

Opening up to the wonder and awe of this world.

Letting go of the fear of uncertainty that stops me from seeing.

Opening up to people and all of their diversity, 

allowing myself to learn more from difference than similarity.

Becoming aware of my inner landscape 

with all of its complexity and simplicity.

Opening my Mind to new ideas and to learning 

from the most unexpected people and places.

Opening my Mind to what I do not know and

embracing "freedom from the known."

Opening my Heart to the poor and downtrodden,

the tattered and torn, the outcasts and the outliers,

the stranger and the foreigner, 

and to all of the Joy and Sorrow along the way

Opening my Will to go where I'm needed

where I can make a difference,

among the most vulnerable of our society.

In the transformational book, Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, warriorship is taught as a way of life. A warrior lives a life of fearlessness only if the person lives a life that is fully aware and fully present. The characteristic at the core of warriorship is gentleness; which comes from tenderness.

“Real fearlessness is the product of tenderness (open mind). It comes from letting the world (touch) your heart, your raw and beautiful heart (open heart). You are willing to open up, without resistance or shyness, and face the world. You are willing to share your heart with others” (open will).

“In the Shambhala tradition, discovering fearlessness comes from working with the softness of the human heart.” “When a human being first gives birth to the tender heart of warriorship… You no longer need to feel shy or embarrassed about being gentle. In fact, your softness begins to become passionate. You would like to extend yourself to others and communicate with them. When tenderness evolves in that direction, then you can truly appreciate the world around you. Sense perceptions become very interesting things. You are so tender and open already that you cannot help opening yourself to what takes place all around you … You begin to feel comfortable being a gentle and decent person.”

Gentleness is a part of the human experience that seems to have gotten lost in America’s individualistic, materialistic, success-driven culture. The good news is that gentleness and tenderness is there, embedded in the heart of every human being. And with the intentional work of nurturing the self, we can each become integrated and whole, embracing apparent contradictions, living the paradox inherent in humanity.