Four Words for Wild Thyme's

The four words that spilled out a couple years ago when thinking of things to write about: Inspire, embark, absorb, and emerge are still on the “A” list.

These four words just keep popping up for the right reasons and I am in the process of writing a ton of stuff about this. Not that we are talking book here, but there is much to explain soon.

Enjoy the pontification…

Being on the receiving end of inspiration is so necessary, like little gifts of encouragement dropping down out of the sky at just the right time. It would be horrible to think that all we had to motivate ourselves was our own internal influence, inspired only by what we have been taught, only by what we’ve read, or seen on TV, or what we have gotten from others common take. I am talking about “doing” and living" the culture.  From an authenticity meter, doing and living is what will get you the best perspective.

I tend to take others energy, both positive and negative, very seriously. And like most of us, my life is influenced by groups of people who share my interests, cultural groups; tribes of like minded people doing like minded things. Within these groups are those who find a connection to other groups, other tribes. I had a conversation with a student at Lindenwood University yesterday. Alex wanted to start a sustainability club and begin the process of educating students to become a little more eco-focused. I made the point that those living a sustainable lifestyle are not all that far from another tribe that I am familiar with; those who live an O-Sport lifestyle (recreation in natural resources; mountain biking, hiking, water sports). I recommended that he do the work, find the correlation between like minded folks, and they will take interest. We agreed that the groups were related and that education would be key. Three tribes, one conversation.

Since it is important to get a dose of inspiration on a regular basis, one of the things you can do is open your eyes; be a little more open minded in relationship to those having interests other than yours, but common interests elsewhere. Have you ever categorized your tribes? How many do you have? Are there more than a few? My guess is that you might be surprised as to how the relationships between tribes work--surprised as to who crosses over and why.

My personality requires me to have the influence from many tribes, many cultures, and I am pretty darned sure that others like me tend to be like me in other ways; information junkies, lifelong learners, wander luster’s, always seeking to get "it" or "get" something out of "it". This is how we learn. We are a tribe in our own bad selves. We are not at all concerned with political ramifications of embarking on a knowledge quest to understand culture.

We seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge and that keeps us interested, inspired. We get inspired by those having something that we feel we might want or need to learn about. If we feel so compelled we will embark on the things that the tribe has to offer in order to glean from it what the others have, the charter, and the purpose, the feeling of what’s inside. Once the waters warm and we have become comfortable navigating that which is at the core of the group, we absorb all of the benefits. It takes as long as it takes, ongoing if you like it a lot. Because what is surely to happen is the emergence of a person a heck of a lot more enlightened. Its personal growth, if youaskmewhatimtalkinbout.