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Blogs by Elisabeth Barstowe
Apes 5/21/2010 11:36:42 AM
I had the funniest thing happen to me the other day. It was a first for sure. At least for me. I was sitting in a meeting with a bunch of proper, well dressed ladies. It was all very official and prim and proper. Work related stuff you know. Anyway. As we were sitting there, 25-30 of us around an oval table, talking about who's who when it comes to deciding what, things got out of hand a little. Just a second ago we had had an orderly meeting, but all of a sudden voices were raised, big gestures flung in all directions, red cheeks, crossed arms, we're talking full on estrogen explosion here. You get the picture. It was intense.
The whole situation to me seemed nothing short of ridicilous. Mature people rising to the defense of their own interests at the slightest threath of intrusion, behaving like children. I looked around me with a sense of amazement.
Suddenly the scene seemed to change. Very vividly I saw in front of me a bunch of apes around a camp fire, dressed up, all prim and proper. Jumping up and down, pointing fingers, gesticulating and bickering with guttural voices. The image was so vivid it startled me a little and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The sound seemed to halt the squabble.
During the rest of he meeting I found myself deep in thought. Have we not come farther than this? Are we still looked in territorial thinking? Can we shift our focus to a broader perspective than individual gain? Whatever happened to spiritual evolution?
It just so happens that all of us around that table work with people in need and our job is to make sure they get the best help we can possibly give. The quality of the work we do is very much dependent on if we can work together as a team and troubleshoot together to come up with the best solution for the problem at hand. The origin of the argument was the question: who contributes with what and to whom? Everyone was very busy arguing for why they in particular should not have to move an inch out of their own territory, or give an inch more of help to their colleagues to aide in solving a problem than needed. None of them could see how working together would in fact be better for everyone, and by doing so they could actually better their own situation in the process.
I found that very strange, and not to mention scary.
Is that all we are? Dressed up apes playing masters of the universe.
More Blogs by Elisabeth Barstowe • Change - Wednesday, July 17, 2024 • Writing in swedish - Wednesday, May 8, 2024 • Life and change - Saturday, July 15, 2023 • It's been 7 years - Monday, July 10, 2023 • Vacation - Thursday, July 6, 2023 • Doubt. - Sunday, November 13, 2011 • Trying - Saturday, July 3, 2010 • Apes - Friday, May 21, 2010
