The Amazing Human Spirit

Recently, I wrote a post about "My Amazing Machine," a look at how remarkable our human bodies are.  (3/30/14)  Almost as quickly as I published that post, I had the thought, "What about your amazing spirit?" Hmm.  I wrote a note that has been on my desk for two weeks: My Amazing Spirit. Well, what about it?

First of all, my spirit isn't the only one that is amazing.  One of the remarkable things about us as human beings is the human spirit.  I've written a lot about intention, listening to our hearts, and aspiring to do what we know is right in our hearts.  When we have the spark of something in us, we seem to be driven to do it.  A few months ago, I wrote about Olympic gold medallist Gaby Douglas, who was vaulting across her front yard as a pre-schooler.  I recall seeing a movie about jazz singer Billie Holiday; she was singing with jazz records as a tween. If we listen, the "code" is within us, as much as our DNA.

Writing has been in me since I could hold a pencil.  I have a knot on the side of my middle finger that I can remember forming probably by junior high school.  I can't imagine what it would look like if computers hadn't come along 25 years ago. Well, maybe I could.  My grandmother had the writer gene and had a knot on her middle finger that got gnarly as she grew older, suggesting there was something interesting to learn from this 92-year-old woman. 

Our ability to experience wonder sets the human spirit apart among species.  Whether when I walked on errands this afternoon amidst all the beautiful flowering trees, perfuming the air with their fragrance, watched the first sprout of a tulip breaking through the soil this week, or upon waking this morning noticed  that bright spring green begin to show on budding trees behind my apartment, our ability the gasp in wonder is emblematic of the human spirit.

We also have an incredible capacity to feel connection.  Sometimes I feel connected to a friend half a world away, remembering times spent together.  Other times, I feel connected to those I don't even know, like this evening when I watched an interview with the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, as he shared the plight of those impacted by war in several African locations.  On truly remarkable days, I feel connected to all that is--God, nature, humanity: I can feel a ribbon of love that moves through all of us.

Closely related to connection is our ability to experience community.  Community may be experienced in our families, churches or synagogues, schools, or neighbourhoods.  Even our workplaces can allow us to feel the connection of common purpose.  I've worked in newspapers, hospitals, and now a space agency, and in each there was the experience of pulling together to do something important.

Over the last several weeks, as the collegiate basketball season wrapped up in the United States, we had the opportunity to observe that sense of community that is team many times.

I am sure there are many ways in which our spirits are amazing, but I am often astounded at the resilience of the human spirit.  I literally lost everything and somehow found the will to bounce back.  I have had a couple of significant health challenges, but through will, and with the help of capable medical professionals, I fought my way back. 

This evening I watched "The Book Thief," a remarkable story of a young woman in Nazi Germany, who lost two families--her biological one and then the one into which she'd been adopted, her closest friend, and her home.  Literally out of the ashes she found her way to a fulfilling life.

I have reflected many times about former U. S. President Jimmy Carter, who suffered the worst defeat of any sitting president and resurrected himself to be author, humanitarian, Nobel Prize winner, and human rights advocate.  The past 40 years of remarkable world service have been the result of his resilience in the face of that defeat.

So my "still small voice" within me that whispered, "What about your amazing spirit?" was right.  The human spirit is pretty remarkable. Now that I think of it, I'll bet part of what is written on the back side of our hearts is how to be human, and, if we listen closely, how to fully experiencing the wonder of the human spirit.

Co-creating in community

Something magical happens when a really good team co-creates something that exceeds what any members could have done on their own.  Today I had that opportunity: twice! In each case we shared what we each wanted from the product.  Each brought her experience and expertise. We listened. We explored. 

Then just magically something emerged.  When we knew where we were going, we each took a piece of the project to complete.  People met their deadlines. Not only were our products good, but creating them was fun.  I am more relaxed at the end of the day than I have been at the end of a work day for a long time.  It was joyful.

I wrote in both Leading from the Heart and The Alchemy of Fear  about the almost godlike quality that a collaborative team has--creating something where there was nothing and doing so in such deep connection it is like breathing together.  I worked in the newspaper business for many years, and on a daily basis I marveled  as I watched all the different departments pulling together to produce our "daily miracle" and to do so at precisely 1:10 every afternoon.  When our work involves high collaboration, we truly connect in a way that few other opportunities provide.

Yet, with that said, we co-create in community more often than we realize.  Just this week, the whole world is coming together to co-create disaster relief.  Actually, disaster relief is one of those things that humankind has actually managed to get right much of the time.  We show our capacity for caring and compassion, as well as taking on some massive logistical challenges.  Think of the great Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 or the earthquakes in Haiti.  We actually have global outpourings of love. 

Similarly, we co-create emergency responses on a smaller scale all the time.  When I first moved to Washington, I was struck by a distracted driver (cell phone) while crossing the street in the crosswalk.  Although the emergency response people were quick to respond, drivers instantaneously spilled from their cars offering varying skills from retrieving my briefcase and shoes that had gone flying to offering witness testimony and holding an umbrella over me in a downpour until the EMTs arrived.  They just came together magically.

I am quite certain co-creating is how we are wired as human beings.  I am not sure how we lost that ability so much of the time, but it erupts regularly and spontaneously enough to tell me that it is hardwired.  And, it feels good when it does.  Today, I am feeling blessed at having had two good team experiences today, and more than a little intrigued about how to intentionally create something bigger.

Coming Together in Warmth

Yesterday I wrote about the special kind of friends with whom we can be open about our hopes and fears, and they will sit with us in total acceptance.  Today I want to write about other kinds of friends.  In a few minutes I will leave to have brunch with several women with whom I share an occasional lunch, dinner, and today brunch.  One is a current work colleague, but sadly most are now former colleagues. 

The occasion for today's celebration is a visit by one who moved back to her native state of California, and most of us haven't seen her for 15 months.  Among us there will be warmth, joy, and laughter. There will be curiosity about what has been going on in our lives. There will be concern and support. Perhaps mostly, there will be connection born of a time and place when we collaborated together on a common mission: to make life at our agency better for the people work there. 

In Leading from the Heart I wrote about the experience of people coming together every day to produce a newspaper, the business in which I spent 10 years of my career.  I think it matters not whether it is a federal agency or the newspaper business or any one of 22 other industries in which I have worked over the years; what matters is the magic that happens when a group of people share a mission.  Together we are more than the sum of our parts. We are able to accomplish something in community that the same people working alone could not accomplish.  It connects us.

Over the years, I have made friends at many of the career stops I've made along the way.  There is still something about that magic that continues to connect us 20-30 years later.  Today I look forward to coming together in warmth with a special group and sharing our connection.