I have dipped into a novel again. Yet it is more than just a novel. It speaks to me more deeply. It is by the German Novelist Hermann Hesse (b1877 – d1962) titled Demian. I remember reading The Glass Bead Game/Magister Ludi by the same author when I was a teenager, and it had a profound affect on me, with it’s complex weaving, toward the ultimate message, for me, that wisdom is best gained when learning is applied toward a new reality.
Every person has his or her own unique story.
How we interpret our stories, the meanings we place on particular events, and the metaphors and examples we choose, all form a rich tapestry and weaving of our own lives, and the futures we create, for ourselves, and others, as leaders, mothers and fathers, workers, sisters and brothers, friends, and lovers. And the personal mythologies it generates.
What we learn, about ourselves, and others, can create a new turn. With every interaction, reaction, and decision.
And, in leadership, seeing each person, and their experience, is the powerful element, that is relevant. Guiding through the wisdom, of process, changing direction, and creating benefit.
The following prologue extract of Demian, marvellously encapsulates the importance of each person’s process. In reading it please incorporate the broader gender reference because we are each a part of the humane experience:
Novelists when they write novels tend to take an almost godlike attitude toward their subject, pretending to a total comprehension of the story, a man’s life, which they can therefore recount as God Himself might, nothing standing between them and the naked truth, the entire story meaningful in every detail. I am as little able to do this as the novelist is, even though my story is more important to me than any novelist’s is to him – for this is my story; it is the story of a man, not of an invented, or possible, or idealised, or otherwise absent figure, but of a unique being of flesh and blood,…and men,- each of whom represents a unique and valuable experiment on the part of nature…is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world’s phenomena intersect, only once in this way and never again. That is why every man’s story is important, eternal, sacred: that is why every man, as long as he lives and fulfils the will of nature, is wondrous and worthy of every consideration. In each individual the spirit has become flesh.
Every person represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point, at which the world’s phenomena intersect. A true and powerful statement, about every transaction and interaction, we make.
Perhaps, as you move further into your journey, you can consider your story, your unique contributory, and the directions you can take, to make your world a better place, with the influence you wield, in the gardens you field. As I too will. Because we each have the power, to influence the hour.
If you need assistance with your mandala of wholeness leadership, creating fulfilment, meaning-making, and improvement, please connect with me. I value each unique story, and it’s weaving, in my undertaking.
You, or your organisation, can dip into a level of coaching that may be practical and suitable for you, or your people, in an evolving experience, and story, that is relevant, and always, of benefit.
Copyright. All rights reserved. Adapted from first publish in lovingpsycheblogspot 2014.