How was your Thanksgiving? This national holiday was a time to take off from work, re-connect with family and friends and share a meal. In ancient times there was a rhythm to celebrations. People gathered to feast, sing, drink, eat, tell stories, and cease from work. Often these celebrations took a lot a planing, and people would travel from one village to another to be with family and friends. Hmm… when you think about it we are not so different today.
We are entering a celebration time period that kicks off with Thanksgiving. People flood the stores to buy gifts, people decorate their homes, send holiday cards, plan parties, plan open houses and start planning holiday feasts. We each start to develop our own rhythm of celebration. My neighbor already has her house decorated, while we are still bringing decorations up from the basement. While the parties are nice. I think the real statement is “I am more than my work” and these holidays is a time to reflect and re-connect. It is a time or “excuse” to connect to one another. Is that so bad?
Connecting to One Another
I think it is the excitement of connecting that makes this holiday / celebration time an exciting time. We are more than our work. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the business of managing, developing, doing work and selling that we sometimes forget to “connect” to one another.
This is a great time to re-connect, to realize that we are more than our work. I think we need to take a tip from the ancient times. Centuries ago before telephones, i-pads, televisions, and radios we were a culture of story tellers. People would gather and listen to the oral stories of one another. It was a time to re-connect. What a wonderful opportunity to re-connect with people who touch your life. As a former manager I often got so wrapped up with corporate productivity that I forgot to connect with my employees on a personal level. The holidays gives each of us a wonderful excuse to re-connect to one another. It is a great time to re-connect with ..bosses, employees, husbands, wives, parents, children, ” lost or forgotten relatives or friends,” the people who we depend on (mail service person, lawn service people, paper boy, etc. ). How many times do we throw a card in the mail and not really connect?
Make an effort to connect this year. Instead of just throwing a card in the mail, make an effort to re-connect, use the ancient oral tradition of asking for a persons story. Take the time to listen to one another. Don’t be so quick to tell your story but listen to the stories of others.
Take the time to reach out and re-connect.
