As John Crutcher talked about male and female versions of competition, I
wondered why this was so here but not in other cultures of the world? One
hundred years ago the women were the culture bearers for the US. That was
a contract made in this country but not elsewhere. In fact it was a part
of a more egalitarian contract than in Europe. Women were separate but
equal in their jobs.
That has all changed and this out of date training for little boys and
girls is no longer appropriate to the coming world. Little boys will have
to learn to be as whole as little girls in order to compete in the coming
world.
Little boys who didnt learn the meanings of ensemble and group thought
present in the West in the Performing Arts and as is taught in other
cultures in spiritual training are at a competitive dis-advantage with
little girls. The belief was that you either had to have group or
individual thought. My experience is that they are like the left and
right hands of the body and both are necessary.
I find it funny that the Wall Street gurus have loved and praised the
martial arts books so much when so few have shown the mental discipline to
discover the interconnection of all reality brought about through the
movement and form meditations. That ability to communicate across space
in sound, movement and thought is one of the most important lessons.
I stress that it is not an issue of control but communication and dialogue
across, in some cases, great distances. That is what Mastery and Learning
Organizations mean to me personally. At the same time we balance our
individual responsibility, talent and skills with those special gifts that
we learn by becoming an organization that learns as an entity like a
string quartet or an orchestra. You don't have to have one or the other.
Both are necessary for a whole individual and I believe for a whole
company if you are to achieve that fifth discipline.
I have to flu tonight so if I am incoherent or just plain boring I ask
your indulgence. Sometimes it just isn't worth getting up, although I did
sing a wonderful world premiere performance of some wonderful songs by
composer Martin Halpern this afternoon in spite of everything.
[Host's Note: Ray, our best wishes for your speedy return to health.
...Rick]
Regards
Ray Evans Harrell, artistic director
The Magic Circle Chamber Opera of New York, Inc.
mcore@idt.net
--Ray Evans Harrell <mcore@IDT.NET>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>