It's September. As you return to life's classroom, prepare for the teacher's question: "How was your summer?" Don't ask!
What was once a time of sunsplashed revery, iced tea on a cool back patio, staring into the dusk of the day, and planning for the Labor Day picnic, has all changed.
Roger Cohen of the New York Times framed it best for me: "The world speeded up. Stress levels soared. Idle moments evaporated. Egos expanded. Devices became hand-held. Money outpaced politics. Rage surged. "
August aborted this year into a time of ugly politics, debt debates, and a new time of outrage. It's as if an aging, sick elephant decide to amble onto our pristine beach and generously relieve itself. After what The Economist called a "ludicrously irresponsible bout of fiscal brinksmanship," the markets continued to churn, and the angry young facing unemployment as high as 45.7 percent left the beach for the barricades in London and other cities in the UK. Several died. And the fragile European Union is caught in the gulf between rich and poor nations and bankrupt economies begging for relief.
A sour economy doesn't just happen Out There anymore. Gallup's economic confidence is at the lowest level since the pessimistic recession of 2008-2009, and millions of us will not have jobs, perhaps for a long time. It's getting mightily close to home.
And in all of this, where were our leaders?
I wrote about this same theme in February 2009:
All of us are being tested as never before. Now, as we confront the toughest economy in a generation we are all being called upon to accept more uncertainty and, its unwelcome fellow traveler, fear. We are often so distracted that we lack the attention for anything more than a five-part miniseries, and now, in our collective affluenza, anger and uncertainty, we feel suddenly vulnerable. And we hate the feeling. It makes it hard to live and lead.
In the months ahead it will be too easy to slip back to the solace of what appears to be order, certainty, planned days and nights. Instead, leaders must confront one of their toughest tests of character and courage. Can they saddle up and ride the Four Horseman of the Reconstructed Economy: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity? Do we face a Darwinian winter of more downturns and closings? The news makes us want to hunker down and hide. As Keats wrote, "there is nothing stable in the world; uproar's your only music.
One of the wisest writers I know is Dominique Browning, whose wonderful book, Slow Love, was featured in some of my earlier newsletters. In a current blog from her site, she reminds us that we all have a big stake in how all of "this" turns out, and that we can in large and small ways influence the future:
We're all caught in the mad, maddening, thrilling swirl of work and love. We all want to learn how to dig deeper, ground ourselves. Total escapism doesn't do anyone any good -- including the person who has put herself into hiding.
You can shut the doors and windows, lock the garden gate, tuck yourself into an exquisitely-appointed bed -- but no matter what you do, you live in a big, booming, buzzing world that is going to touch you wherever you hide. It is a world that urgently, more than ever, needs intelligent attention, and the generous care of our hearts and souls. Let's keep talking.
Let's take leadership for the things we can change, I invite you to consider three personal initiatives:
1.Get a list of your representatives, congressmen, counsel leaders, and send them an email, or even better, a letter, expressing not anger but the hope that they will step out from the clouds of pessimism, an idealogue's hiding place, and engage in courageous conversations about a Better Next. You can't filibuster hope. We will believe again when we begin to really talk about passion, not poison, and get help to those who need it... to find jobs, to share their talent, to be back into a real conversation that offers a horizon.
2.Contribute to those agencies and charities that are providing help to the homeless and the unemployed. In my community it's the Red Cross and Salvation Army for starters.
3.And give more than money, any amount, to help one person find a job. Really help them... revise their resume, reach into your network to get them an interview, prepare them by role-playing the conversation. Even help them with their wardrobe. Really. I've done it. It works. And it feels great when it works. Open that door.
In doing this, allow yourself to feel their vulnerability. And your own.
We try to construct a life in which we will be perfect, in which we will eliminate awkwardness, pass by vulnerability, ignore ineptness, only to pass through the gate of our lives and find, strangely, that the gateway is vulnerability itself. The very place we are open to the world whether we like it or not.
David Whyte Crossing The Unknown Sea
I persist in my optimism that we can pull ourselves up and into a place of reasonable expectations and hope in a new spirit of recovery. We have a history to trust. To me the misty dawns of late summer outside my window, curling and weaving about my riverfront patios, offer a sultry invitation to wash away the tired leaves that keep us green awhile longer. This is all a brief glimpse of the days to come, of September's longer days, and with them the first signs of a new season.
Invite the leader in you to step forth. It begins with you.