July, 2005 |
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 Happy Interdependence  I love this holiday – this festive, secular celebration of the great ideas and determined actions that coalesced into the creation of a terrific nation. I do. I love this holiday. From my balcony I enjoy five or six fireworks displays, from downtown San Diego to the south to Sea World to the northwest. My holiday festivities are provided in large part by other people. And so it is for many, many of our blessings. They are provided in large part by other people, many of whom we will never know. We are connected; there is no getting around it. The nectarine I ate this morning with sunflower seeds and plain vanilla yogurt was planted, tended and harvested by strangers, so that I might enjoy it one summer morning. The paper I read today was written, printed and distributed by several of my city neighbors, plus reporters half the world away. This computer, the t-shirt I’m wearing, the Jeep I relish, my memories of family vacations long past – all the many pieces of which were provided by many, many other people, many-o-many of which I will never meet. Yet we are all participating together. 
This American holiday, Independence Day – is a limited, and forgive my boldness, an outdated, notion. Sure, let’s celebrate the ideas and ideals upon which our nation was founded, and which we slip, claw and climb to make real in our own lives each and every ordinary day. That is worthy of celebration. Now, in great American style, let’s go further. Let’s all of us see that none of what we enjoy in our lives and none of what we suffer is enjoyed or suffered independently, for it is impossible for any one of us to survive independent of one another. The term, independence, is too-much elevated, I believe, in our culture’s psychology. There is too much talk of going it alone. It is actually nearly impossible to do. And beware: Too much independence leads to separation. We should guard against that. Let’s have just enough independence to fulfill our individual promises, and not merely the promises someone else wants us to fulfill, while not too much independence to believe for an instant that we achieve anything alone. My business is not succeeding because of only what I do. No. My father and sister and clients and friends and suppliers of myriad tools and resources help me succeed. Your success within your business is because of the people in it and all the people who serve you from outside your business – and because of the people you serve, your customers. You succeed because of your customers. We do not – we cannot succeed independently. We may break away independently, yet we can only succeed over time in communion, in community, in teams with many, many other people. Remember that. What may begin as an act of independence quickly and irrevocably becomes an extended process of interdependence. It is a beautiful reality of living itself; we are all interdependent. You depend on me. I serve you. I depend on you. You serve me. We are interdependent. I’m glad for that. May we continue to serve each other and every one else supremely well. Happy Interdependence. back to top |
