Our Greatest Challenge: Closing Wide Gaps

By

Bill Cottringer

“There is an unalterable and widening gap between exterior and interior, symbol and content, form and function -a gap, which is making the environment more and more inarticulate, impossible to understand and difficult to manipulate.” ~Charles Jencks.

     We can all feel the pain of the Great Divide between people everywhere today. This Divide is driven by the three main conflicts confronting us. These three conflicts involve: (a) us vs. life (b) us vs. others, and (c) us vs. ourselves. These three conflicts in turn, involve gaps on both sides of the fence, which some want to close, while others want to expand. The epitome of the human Divide is found in the fundamental dominant hierarchy of the nature of nature itself. From my current perspective, this Divide was originally created by the human ability of self-consciousness, which separated us from the rest of nature. As it turns out, this “affliction” may be the only way to close some of the more destructive gaps that it created.

    Here are three of the most pervasive and harmful gaps:

     Consider the many other gaps that make up the Divide:

     It is ironic, that what caused these gaps—human self-consciousness—is the only cure. Here are some sensible gap-closing guidelines:

·      Identify the littler gaps that can collectively help close the bigger ones. Sometimes a small change, well-timed and strategically placed, can yield very large results. An example is changing some negative words to positive ones, making an unpopular announcement of an impending change, more acceptable.

·      First, seek to understand the true nature of the right gap that needs closing first, by getting in the trenches and observing and listening closely to what is being said and done. Just remember to get out of the swamp when you are knee deep in allegators.

·      Gap-closing can’t be done for people; people must learn how to do it themselves, which requires expert, committed teaching and training of the essential knowledge and skills needed to do this. This is represented in the (modified) popular saying, “Don’t give a person a fish to eat for a single meal, but teach him or her how to fish, so the person can catch their own fish and have meals the rest of their life.”

“Believing there is a bridge from where you are to where you want to go is 99% of the battle. The other 1% is to cross it.” ~Richie Norton.