Weather Report: On Beauty
Book #2 "The Answer to How is Yes: Acting on what matters" by Peter Block
Welcome to this second week of ‘On Beauty’1 and thank you for joining with me as I dive further into beauty in its many forms. I wonder how is this practice going for you? Have you started to notice more, to note down some small surprises every day?
We are still in November as I write and the surprise here in Ireland is the mildness of the temperature for this time of year: I met a friend for coffee outdoors earlier and we sat quite comfortably for a lengthy chat and a catch up. Outside my back door a red geranium is still in flower. In mid-November, outdoors!
The second book I have chosen from the list of resources in Weather Report is one I would love for its title alone: The Answer to How is Yes: Acting on what matters by Peter Block. But, as you might expect from such a promising title, there is also a great deal of thought-provoking wisdom between its covers.
There have been any number of occasions when some project or other I wanted to work on met with the response, ‘How will you…?’ and very often the fill in the blank was about time, (where would I find it), or finance, (ditto). In my experience the ‘how…?’ question is a great way to block (pardon the pun here) the blossoming of an idea, because of course at the beginning stages few of us have the answers to ‘how?’ and so we retreat, feeling a definite lowering of energy and enthusiasm, and perhaps even feeling slightly foolish. Maybe at times the ‘how…?’ question is entirely in our own heads and is enough to stop us taking that initial step. As Peter Block says…
The question “How?” - more than any other question - looks for the answer outside of us. It is an indirect expression of our doubts.
What if, instead, we begin to replace “How?”, with ‘Yes!”. Immediately I know my whole perspective changes, which is why I love Block’s book title. There is an immediate commitment to exploration, to action. Re-reading it for this post reveals fresh insights. The discussion by Block of the role of what he terms the social architect, enlarges my concept of beauty as it is cultivated, or not, in our human systems.
How we inter-act (my hyphen) has a great impact on both process and outcome. Block lists three design criteria of a good social architect, someone who brings about needed change, with attention to values that matter:
First, some examples from Block of the values that matter:
Love; Freedom; Compassion; Integrity; Collaboration; Justice; Creativity; Care for the Next Generation.
He adds that these are all qualities of being alive.
Next, his three design criteria:
Is idealism encouraged?
Is intimacy made possible?
Is there the space and demand for depth?
This combination of values and design criteria form the launching point for action that matters; by an individual, a community, an organisation. For me it suggests a blueprint for working towards harmony, towards beauty in all our endeavours, towards results that matter.
What I offer here are merely breadcrumbs from Block’s work, leading you to further reading, if this speaks to you.
Where in your world have you been finding beauty and harmony in recent days? What are the threats to it, if you see any? When did you / will you say ‘yes!’ instead of ‘how?’
I would love to read your responses in the comments below.
This series, 'On Beauty’ is inspired by the invitation to notice and note beauty in our everyday lives - part of the daily journaling practice in my book, ‘Weather Report: A 90-day journal for reflection and well-being, with the aid of the Beaufort Wind Scale’. Each of these posts features a book from the Resource List at the back of ‘Weather Report’.
"...will you say ‘yes!’ instead of ‘how?’" This is the question, isn't it? to keep our eyes toward beauty, peace, truth and love, not letting all the obstacles prevent us from moving in those directions. Beautiful post, my friend.