Words Matter: “its infinite, unthinkable costs”

I was going to start my new blog with a post talking about books that inspired me to think differently or strategically. My plans changed while reading in Apple News Wednesday morning. I clicked on this poem ‘Benediction’ written by Joshua Bennett which was shared from The Atlantic under their books section. I have been itching to start thinking about the most uncontrollable strategic variables facing people and organizations now. BUT, Apple’s algorithms know I find poetry important. 

https://apple.news/A-fDI4CH3TlaBJDcC9_lEGg

This poem reminded me that change begins with listening. Listening is not just about hearing a  person’s words but hearing what is the story behind the words. Poetry challenges me to listen harder. Bennett is telling his story of being a black person from Brooklyn. Read the whole poem. The words matter. They are chosen for a reason and from an experience. These are words and sentences are art and have great meaning. I am still unpacking his thoughts and letting the story change and inform me. These words below were the lines that I was first able wrestle with.

“God bless the vulnerable
ones. How they call us
toward love & its infinite,
unthinkable costs.”


Wow, ‘love & its infinite, unthinkable costs’!! Today I will look and listen to vulnerable ones in the work places and communities where I spend my time. Six words demand my attention. And for you, where will you find the vulnerable ones? They may be a neighbor, an employee, a coworker, a customer, family or even yourself. If we all listen carefully, maybe the “infinite, unthinkable costs” actually becomes something understandable and doable. Is the infinite to a vulnerable one the same infinite to someone who has what they need or has not experienced similar trauma.  


I struggle to understand our country at this moment. I think a democracy is like “love & its infinite, unthinkable costs” found in these lines of poetry. Have the past few years become a time when the norm is, ‘How dare you be vulnerable’? Needed actions in a democracy become doable when we listen and act together. Look for the stories! 


Thank you Joshua Bennett for your words and risk taking in this poem. I am looking forward to reading your new book!


Joshua Bennett is an English professor at Dartmouth College and the author of the forthcoming poetry collection The Study of Human Life. 

  • If you would like to pre-order his new book click here to find a way to the good people at Bookshop who work to support local bookstores. I will get a small commission from the order: https://bookshop.org/a/85951/9780143136828


Interesting V.U.C.A. things I read about this week which we made think about the future:


Education: The Nevada State Education Association estimated that roughly 3,000 teaching jobs remained unfilled across the state’s 17 school districts as of early August. In a January report, the Illinois Association of Regional School Superintendents found that 88 percent of school districts statewide were having “problems with teacher shortages” — while 2,040 teacher openings were either empty or filled with a “less than qualified” hire. And in the Houston area, the largest five school districts are all reporting that between 200 and 1,000 teaching positions remain open.—Washington Post,  Hannah Natanson, 08/03/2022


Logistics: Shipping firm Maersk, a barometer for global trade, warns of weak demand and warehouses filling up- CNBC, Karen Gilchrist 08/03/2022


Food Supplies: Officials are racing to clear a backlog of millions of metric tons of grain trapped by Russia’s invasion after the first shipment left the country, a task that could take months in an effort to boost wartime exports.- Wall Street Journal, Jared Malsin and Alistair MacDonald, August 2, 2022 09:30 am ET

What news items caused you to think about the future? 


May your day be filled with creativity and collaboration,

Van







  

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