Dear Readers, Welcome to SC Musings, Blog 5
I connected with you in Blog 4 from Bolgatty Island, Ernakulam, where I attended the wedding of a dear NG trainee. SC Musings flowed forth effortlessly in the surreal ambience, surrounded by water, boats, and birds, along with the celebrations. Back in Coimbatore, with a carload of plants, I touched base and grounded with preparations for the NG 23rd Board Meeting.
Previously, we have explored force and incoming force using the NG Holistic Model of a Human Being, and also delved into the Taichi slogan:
Yield, Absorb, Redirect and Harmonise (Lam 2015.p.187), with Aruna’s case study.
For a deeper understanding and application of this slogan, let’s now look at Shyamala’s response to a query about Nitya Gurukula services.
Shyamala as NG Accounts-in-Charge handling various accounts, communicates with bank executives on a regular basis. In one such encounter, a curious Bank Executive questioned her on how NG People Work services are different from a Guru taking care of people. The exchange between Shyamala (SL) and the Bank Executive (BE) is presented below:
SL: So, what does your Guru do?
BE: He thinks for us and shows us the path.
SL: In NG, we help individuals think and they find their path.
In the above conversation, the incoming force came as a question about the difference between a Guru ‘taking care’ and NG People Work. This question has a blend of curiosity and a subtle force, an implication that NG’s service may be superfluous and insufficient.
Yielding to and absorbing the subtle force, Shyamala redirected by asking the Bank Executive about his Guru’s ‘taking care’. Her response about the guidance provided in NG, which motivates individuals to think and find a path, satisfied the Bank Executive. He reportedly left with an insight into a new way of taking care of individuals.
We often exchange, that is give and receive, both explicit and hidden messages in our communication and relationships. Explicit messages are mostly clear and understandable; the hidden or latent messages are the ‘subtler and intangible forces’, which I mentioned in Blog 4.
Implicit, hidden messages result in Ulterior Transactions (Berne, 2015.p.103, 104) that are ever prevalent in our communications.
Like the ripples caused by the powerful undercurrents in the Pacific Ocean, ulterior messages tend to cause ripples or even storms and tsunamis, in our communication and relationships.
Despite having climbed the evolutionary ladder, we humans have not yet mastered the art of appropriate communication which nurtures and grows self and others. Turbulence in the forms of polarised positions and raging battles globally, showcase our reactionary mindsets, with a stubborn unwillingness to redirect and harmonise.
As People-Workers we continue to witness these turbulences in ourselves and in individuals, families, and the organisations we work with. Our efforts are largely directed to developing strategies and skills to redirect and harmonise.
Incoming forces need to be dealt with strategically and intentfully, which we will continue to explore in the upcoming blogs. We need not make it a humongous chore and task but start with a tiny step. Are you ready??? And here’s a tiny tip:
Begin watching your breath for just one minute daily till we meet next fortnight with Blog 6.
References
Berne, E. (2015). (original work published 1961). Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy. A Systematic Individual and Social Psychiatry. Martino Publishing
Lam, P., & Bawden-Davis, J. (2015). Born strong: From surviving the great famine to teaching tai chi to millions [E-book]. Narwee, Australia: Tai Chi Productions.