Dazzling Gradually

Tell all the truth but tell it slant

By Emily Dickinson

Tell all the truth but tell it slant —

Success in Circuit lies

Too bright for our infirm Delight

The Truth's superb surprise

As Lightning to the Children eased

With explanation kind

The Truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind —

A powerhouse of sweetness and connectivity, a nearly-retired colleague of mine recited this from memory in a meeting last week, and it has been sticking with me ever since. She thought of it in light of the fact that our work is always emerging - that there is no eternal right way to do our work. Love it.

Bike Tour

It is official - we booked a night bike tour of Paris! Here is the description from the tour website:

"Cruise through the Latin Quarter and witness the best nightlife in town. Pedal down the Ile de la Cité, along the river and enjoy ice cream at Berthillon (the most famous ice cream shop in Paris). Cross over the picnic-filled Pont des Arts bridge and enjoy the sunset over the Paris rooftops. See the Louvre as never before and relax onboard a boat cruise on the Seine. Did we mention free wine is provided on the boat?"

I know it is supposed to be a sales pitch, but it sounds SO fun, right? The tour will last from 7pm to 11:30pm. It may be a hopelessly touristy thing to do, but after weighing the decision, we decided to go for it for two reasons:

1) You can only do so much walking/touring/museum-ing before you become somewhat mind-numbed by trying to absorb it all. At least I feel like that happens to me. We wanted a Paris activity that would engage us in a way that is unique and unforgettable. This seemed like that kind of experience. Did I mention that SB is an avid cyclist?

2) I am risk-averse to a fault, and saw this as a safe way to explore a lot of different parts of the city at night. August is when most Parisians vacation, so Paris will be a tourist mecca - yes, even more than usual - when we're there; thus I worry about being the target of some scam or theft or anything remotely threatening - particularly at night. But one doesn't go to Paris to go to bed at 9pm! What would be more tragic than not enjoying the City of Light at night? So, at least on this night we'll get to be out on the town in a group. Maybe we'll meet other cool tourists, which would also be fun and memorable.

Speaking of cycling, the Tour de France is soon to begin! And this year it actually starts in England. As I mentioned in a post a year ago (or maybe two years ago now?), SB's enthusiasm for the sport has really rubbed off on me. We've watched several documentaries about cycling lately and, while I don't actually enjoy long distance biking personally, I love to watch the pros do it! And this year is also the World Cup, so SB will also be watching my sport of choice for a month as well!

Phenomenal Woman

I wanted to pay homage to the phenomenal Dr. Maya Angelou with the video below (created by the Oprah network). It features great photos of Maya Angelou throughout her life, as she reads her poem Phenomenal Woman. That poem has always inspired me in that it identifies the beauty of women in a way that is powerful and almost defiant (and it IS defiant of traditional ideas of femininity in many ways).

I was fortunate to see Maya Angelou speak several years ago, and one thing that really stuck with me was her profound integrity. She said that she wouldn't be complicit in conversations or situations where there was racism, sexism, classism, (insert any "ism" here) being expressed. She would speak her mind and/or simply leave the room. We have all been in situations where we have avoided conflict at the cost of our integrity. As someone who likes to "keep the peace" and has a fair amount of insecurity, I feel that one of the biggest challenges of life has learning to speak my mind.

I've been thinking about integrity a lot lately in light of my emotional intelligence for leaders course, and I've decided to make speaking with integrity the focus of this professional development opportunity. This ability seems essential for leadership, after all. Thus, my new mantra is this quote from Gandhi, which resonates for me with what made Maya Angelou such a bright light in the world:

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
- Mahatma Gandhi