The Precious Connection
Barry Lewis Green
Forward together, stronger; 6 Strategies across 6 Temperaments for elevated conversations, capacities and Character Leadership. I teach, speak, coach, write, and create for noble, purposeful, united action. Aim High.
We are not our labels. Labels, too often, stand in the face of being ourselves. The seeming tribalism that can typify identity stands in the face of our uniqueness, far more than it should.
Who we are is a composite of the truly unique combination of traits, behaviors, experiences, skills, abilities, talents, capacities, interests, likes, loves, attitudes, perspectives and passions.
You can try to categorize me along age, gender, sexuality, color, ethnicity, religion, height, size or whatever ... but I am not them. I am the combination of them, as unique. In some ways, I am majority. In other ways, not. Indeed, my own uniqueness makes me a minority of one; a category of one amongst the almost 8 billion and counting (at the time of writing this post). You are thusly unique. We all are.
Does this mean that there are not issues of Justice around certain ways we are seen in the world? Of course not. Injustice exists and must be faced. Members of my own personally chosen Baha'i Faith ... in certain parts of the world... experience such injustice, as do people of color, gender, ethnicity, sexuality and more and this must be addressed.
As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr once said...
- "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
By the way, he was a Reverend. He was a Doctor. He was an "elder"; older than the "boomers". He was a black man. But we was ultimately unique; MLK.
We are all different. We are all the same. We are not simply our arbitrary labels. If we are to be ourselves, we must understand that, deeply. We need not overthink it either, we are who we are, when we are, how we are. I am Barry Lewis Green, unique in this world. I may call myself The Unity Guy, but that too is limiting. You are unique too. You know that.
There is work yet to do around human rights, but the first right must always be that we are all humans and that we have the right to walk our path, as us... unconstrained by labels. The only way true Unity in Diversity can flourish is to recognize both; and our diversity is as large as the population. Indeed, when I meet you, I do not want to label you, but to get to know you and your age, gender, sexuality, color, ethnicity, religion, height, size. traits, behaviors, experiences, skills, abilities, talents, capacities, interests, attitudes, likes, loves, perspectives and passions... or whatever... as you and I wish to share. I will always see you as human, with the inalienable right to be so, as much as my #bestlitteledogintheworld Panda saw all of her "race" as such. That is a precious connection... to "see" one another.
Should we not be humbly proud of all facets of who we rightfully claim to be? Of course we should. Every bit of who we are with temperament, character, age, gender, sexuality, color, ethnicity, religion, height, size. traits, behaviors, experiences, skills, abilities, talents, capacities, interests, attitudes, likes, loves, perspectives and passions... or whatever... these all help to define us, as us... as our unique us. Let us see each other thusly... uniquely different but all the same, humans together, strong. Now that is a A PEACE of WORK... and an idea worth talking about.
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LEAD. INSPIRE. EDUCATE. UNITE.
- You?are an Activant … an Educator, Entrepreneur or Emerging Leader who is looking to make constructive change happen, on the ground, real-world, real-time. You are world-embracing and noble-hearted. You seek to mobilize a strong, united and character-driven team to change the world or your corner of it. You want to lead, inspire, educate and unite in doing so.?Let’s go build a better world!
I?am an Activant too; an Educator and Entrepreneur by experience, education and?Enthusiasm... with 40 years in leadership training and development, 27 years in business college education and 20 years certified and associated with?The Virtues Project. Additionally certified for 16 years in Temperament Assessment and with a longstanding body of work around Character Leadership, I help advance?conversation, consultation and capacity around?Character,?Purpose?and?Unity...?and?the?global goals. My work in business and education is to help those building a better world at school, work, business and community; locally and globally.?Humans together, strong.... that is?my?meaning... and?the space I can stay forever. To that?just cause, I commit.