Is your work like climbing a ladder or setting sail?
Two nights ago my electricity in my neighbourhood went off, and it did not come back before going to sleep. The hum of the electricity stopped and stillness arose. After the initial surprise, my orientation towards by body and then safety, I moved my chair towards the big window I have and waited for the night arrive. I meditated watching my mind caught up with joyful memories of long solitary silent retreats in nature, thoughts about how many people don’t have electricity, the war in Ukraine, climate change and the fragility of life.
I went to bed and around midnight a truck arrives outside of my house, and I heard a hole being dug. I woke up to the electricity fixed and later in the day the road repaired. It left me with a feeling of gratitude for all that support
The entire experience made me reflect on Maslows hierarchy of needs:-
Biological and physiological needs
Safety needs
Love and belonging needs
Esteem needs
Self-actualization
Transcendence
Dr. Kaufman book called Transcend which I read last year tells a different story about Maslow that he never actually created a pyramid to represent the hierarchy of needs, management consultants did that!
What he says it is not about mastering each level to win the game of life, it’s an experience, of which there are many opportunities.
Dr. Kaufman uses the metaphor of boat, which you can see it in the slides, the basis of the boat
the hull is security:-
self-esteem,
connection
safety
and growth is the sail
exploration
love
purpose
This model moves away from a linear approach to life to one that responds to life’s complexity. It encourages us to see we are all in the same ocean. It shifts our perception towards being fully human, lifting the sails and setting sail: As Dr Kaufman says “Growth is a direction, not a destination.”
What type of boat are you in, where are you heading, how is the weather right now? How would you apply this model to your life right now?
