As a psychotherapist, I am in the very fortunate position of being present to people in some of their most transitional times. The stress of moving, or leaving a job, or the end of a relationship, or birth of a baby, as we all know, can cause a lot of stress and confusion. These are the times people often seek the support of a caring and compassionate therapist. I fully expect to be let into some of the most intimate details of their lives, making me a de facto family member in some cases. I love this part of my job, because I get to meet people at the heart-level, a place that can be hard to access in my regular day-to-day life. For me, connecting in this very authentic and emotional way is as important to my well-being as physical exercise -- a necessary requirement to the strength of my constitutional being.
Today, I experienced this same level of intimate witnessing and heart-centered, authentic connection in a very unexpected place - my job. What is even more surprising to me is that this job is not in the field in which I have trained for the past eight years. Three months ago, I took a position in marketing at Red Oak Realty. This job was supposed to simply be the paycheck that enabled me to continue my work as an MFT intern -- just show up, do the work, collect the pay and then get to my real vocation. What I did not know when I accepted this position was the family that I had just been invited to join.
I don't usually equate coworkers with family, but Red Oak is a very different kind of company than I am acquainted with. I think we all know companies who talk the talk but don't walk the walk when it comes to caring about their employees. At Red Oak (I swear I'm not doing PR for them), every person is seen as a human being, someone who deserves respect, support, praise and fair compensation for the hard work they do. There are no political dramas, power plays, back-stabbing, hierarchical games or Machiavellian schemes, none that I can see anyway. This is, honestly, a great place to work, especially for a person with my disposition.
Today was Red Oak's annual Kick-Off Breakfast, a company-wide event with the purpose of reviewing the previous year, setting goals for the coming year, announcing new programs and recognizing individual and team successes. As I sat listening to two of our founding members (34 years in the same four-member partnership) announce their retirement, I felt, in myself and in most of my colleagues, a profound sense of love for the members of this family -- my family! I realized that I was bearing witness to a massive transition point in this company's history. They have ambitious, yet socially responsible, goals for growth and progress. The two new owners, who are hands-on employees as well, are investing time, energy and capital into the tools needed for us to achieve those goals. More remarkably, the four original and two new owners, a combination that in other companies might cause tension, fundamental arguments, splintering and derision, are cooperatively and thoughtfully shepherding this organization into an exciting new era of operation. This passing of the torch hints at the wisdom of the founders in their ability to let go, say goodbye, move forward into unfamiliar territory, and yet maintain the authentic and caring relationships that not only built, but have sustained, this agency for 34 years.
It does not escape me that some divine intervention, some delicious universal synchronicity, has brought me into this family, at this particular moment in time, to witness and feed this transition. My role here is certainly not that of a therapist, although I do a fair amount of supportive listening there. However, my title or job responsibilities are secondary to my sense of belonging in this wonderful collection of beings who show me what it means to walk the walk, every day, in every little imaginable way.
In a world which is increasingly dominated by greedy, behemoth conglomerations with the stock price as the ultimate indicator of success and the individual employee an unfortunate requirement, Red Oak has maintained it's deep core value of helping people (in notably more ways than selling houses). I will be forever grateful to higher power that I was welcomed into this family at such a transitional time in it's existence.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Avatar is a Must-See
This movie just blew me away. I know I'm revealing a lot about myself by saying that and there will probably be some of you who have derogatory comments about me after this. Dig away - I don't care. I'm in love with this movie.
I'm not a typical fan of fantasy movies and I don't get off on a whole lot of special effects - usually. Avatar takes special effects into a whole new stratosphere! Seeing it in Imax 3-D helped me feel as if I was living on the planet Pandora. There's a lot of obvious metaphor, given away in the first few minutes of the movie, as we're told that the Americans are on this new planet because they're after a rare and valuable mineral called, get this, Unobtainium. But I was transported way beyond suspension of disbelief, and into my ideal world where people respect the planet and honor the connection we have to each other, to earth and to spirit. If one allows themselves to be similarly transported, one will enter into a timeless story of the Warrior's Journey, witness profound forgiveness, and begin to think about how one's own actions may be trampling over the hearts and souls of other beings, be they Afghanistani, Iraqi, the homeless, deer and turkeys during hunting season, or your employee.
There are many lessons one can take away from this movie. I encourage all of you to go see it and tap into the one(s) that speak to you in a deep and profound way. Enjoy! all you movie go'ers!
I'm not a typical fan of fantasy movies and I don't get off on a whole lot of special effects - usually. Avatar takes special effects into a whole new stratosphere! Seeing it in Imax 3-D helped me feel as if I was living on the planet Pandora. There's a lot of obvious metaphor, given away in the first few minutes of the movie, as we're told that the Americans are on this new planet because they're after a rare and valuable mineral called, get this, Unobtainium. But I was transported way beyond suspension of disbelief, and into my ideal world where people respect the planet and honor the connection we have to each other, to earth and to spirit. If one allows themselves to be similarly transported, one will enter into a timeless story of the Warrior's Journey, witness profound forgiveness, and begin to think about how one's own actions may be trampling over the hearts and souls of other beings, be they Afghanistani, Iraqi, the homeless, deer and turkeys during hunting season, or your employee.
There are many lessons one can take away from this movie. I encourage all of you to go see it and tap into the one(s) that speak to you in a deep and profound way. Enjoy! all you movie go'ers!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Car Ownership is Finally Catching Up With Me
A few years ago I paid off the loan on my sporty Toyota Tacoma. I thought I had hit the jackpot - I finally owned something outright - and it was a BIG something. OK, it's not a house, and it does depreciate in value, but it's still more than a nice leather purse. No more monthly payments, no more wondering how much the dealership was ripping me off on those tune-up specials. Plus, I felt a sense of pride about this sexy vehicle being mine, all mine.
Three years later, I am embarking on the second round of major repairs in as many years, and thinking "Can't I just trade it in?" This thing is starting to feel like a noose around my neck. Albeit, a noose that has character and attitude--a noose that has come in darn handy on those weekend organizing jobs--a noose that I am loathe to give up because, gosh darnnit I OWN IT!!!
Well, this is where we adults have to really know the economics of car ownership, and when your investment in repairs is a story of diminishing returns. I logged onto Kelly Blue Book and found out that my truck, in pris-TINE condition, is worth about $7,000. (BTW, it's far from pristine.) The current repairs are estimated at about 37% of that value estimation. I'm sure there's some financial advisor out there who knows where the cut-off point is - maybe s/he is screaming at their computer screen right now. But what is s/he saying?? I can't hear you!! Tell me....should I invest another wad of money I don't have into a vehicle that is almost 10 years old, only gets 22 mpg and has 120,000 miles on it? Well???
So my other, less attractive option, is to trade it in for a brand new, smaller, more efficient vehicle that comes with it's own health care plan and lengthy lease agreement. I'd have to go back to the days of monthly car payments. Of course, this option has its own inherent sexiness. But I just can't bear the thought of having monthly car payments again, even if it does mean driving a shiny new car off the lot. And I certainly couldn't call it "mine, all mine!"
This leaves me with the very familiar conclusion that I will leave this decision until faced with a future major repair necessity, at which point I will attempt this uninformed calculation of cost-benefit analysis all over again and probably come to the same conclusion...that I should invest in a really good bicycle.
Three years later, I am embarking on the second round of major repairs in as many years, and thinking "Can't I just trade it in?" This thing is starting to feel like a noose around my neck. Albeit, a noose that has character and attitude--a noose that has come in darn handy on those weekend organizing jobs--a noose that I am loathe to give up because, gosh darnnit I OWN IT!!!
Well, this is where we adults have to really know the economics of car ownership, and when your investment in repairs is a story of diminishing returns. I logged onto Kelly Blue Book and found out that my truck, in pris-TINE condition, is worth about $7,000. (BTW, it's far from pristine.) The current repairs are estimated at about 37% of that value estimation. I'm sure there's some financial advisor out there who knows where the cut-off point is - maybe s/he is screaming at their computer screen right now. But what is s/he saying?? I can't hear you!! Tell me....should I invest another wad of money I don't have into a vehicle that is almost 10 years old, only gets 22 mpg and has 120,000 miles on it? Well???
So my other, less attractive option, is to trade it in for a brand new, smaller, more efficient vehicle that comes with it's own health care plan and lengthy lease agreement. I'd have to go back to the days of monthly car payments. Of course, this option has its own inherent sexiness. But I just can't bear the thought of having monthly car payments again, even if it does mean driving a shiny new car off the lot. And I certainly couldn't call it "mine, all mine!"
This leaves me with the very familiar conclusion that I will leave this decision until faced with a future major repair necessity, at which point I will attempt this uninformed calculation of cost-benefit analysis all over again and probably come to the same conclusion...that I should invest in a really good bicycle.
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