Being Naomi Shihab Nye

Here is my beautiful friend, the extraordinary poet,
songwriter and novelist, Naomi Shihab Nye on Kindness:

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you every where
like a shadow or a friend.

--Naomi Shihab Nye

Being Remembered

Does the Land Remember Me? I was incredibly moved by the words of Mr. Shihab in a recent post, Being Naomi Shihab Nye III (In Honor of Aziz Shihab). There seems to be a deep connection for many with the land. The land in that disputed Middle Eastern area has long been a struggle for so many, causing much death and destruction—great agony too. I thought it was particularly interesting that Naomi's 12 year old son, Mr. Shihab's grandson came up with the title of his book, Does the Land Remember Me? This is reminiscent of the stuggle being remembered generation after generation. Such memories are evident on both sides.

Personally, I do not know what the right thing to do with regards to that disputed land. But I know that death and destruction is not the right thing. Mr. Shihab suggested that the U.S. should remove itself from the equation and the Israeli and Palestinian people would come together. But can we count on righteous others in the Middle East to be fair? Will our ally Israel be protected, surrounded by enemies? Are they indeed enemies? Must they be? Would these enemies subsist with the perception of fairness? (Are these naive questions?) It is believed that the scores of dead Palestinians far out number those of dead Isrealis. Though, for me, it seems that one death is a tragedy.

Remembering the land for Mr. Shihab seems to be remembering the sights, smells and air or his homeland and remebering a terrible time during the war of 1948 that his land was literally taken away and claimed by others. Although many European were removed from their homes during WWII and their valuables confiscated, it is perhaps not seen as the same. Could the confiscation of their homes been seen in the same light as the removal of Palestinians from their land? I guess everything is fair in love and war. I now write from my land in America which was allowed first through the confiscation of land from Indians and then through the struggle of African Americans for the right not to be property but to own property on a land that is ancestrally not mine.

While there seems to be a distinction between homes and valuables, the great pain of being displaced, however, cannot be underestimated. The move of many to Israel worldwide may suggest that the land itself has value. This move seems to be recognition that this is the ancestral home and there is the sense of never being displaced again. The only problem there seems to that others too consider this very land ancestral and they have indeed been replaced. I don’t have the answers. But what I do know is that there must be peace and justice there for both the Israelis and Palestinians or there will continue to be death and destruction for both.

Being Naomi Shihab Nye III (In Honor of Aziz Shihab)

Here is my dear friend the poet, Naomi Shihab Nye, and her dad, Aziz Shihab speaking about his memior, Does the Land Remember Me?



Mr. Shihab passed away last year and we are blessed that he was here. During this time, I am thinking of my friend, Naomi.



Let there be peace on earth,
and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on Earth,
the peace that was meant to be.

With God as our Father,
brothers all are we,
Let me walk with my brother,
in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me,
let this be the moment now.
With every step I take,
let this be my solemn vow,

To take each moment and live each moment
in peace, eternally.
Let there be Peace on Earth,
and let it begin with me.

Words and Music by Jill Jackson and Sy Miller, Circa 1955

Being Naomi Shihab Nye II

What is the "the fuel that feeds you?" For many it is the power of words.

For a most inspirational message on the importance of words to unite and make a difference click on the link above.

These are the words of a most beautiful friend.

Words matter.

(Click the title above for the video interview with Bill Moyers.)

Being Simply Beautiful

When I think of being simply beautiful I think of my friend, the poet Naomi Shihab Nye. I think of the power and simplicity of her words and gentle spirit, though wrapped in an undeniable fierceness for the cause of life and liberty. I think of the short unpretentious sentences of another great poet, one of my favorites, e.e. cummings. But language does not necessarily have to have a few sentences to be simply beautiful, though it greatly depends on the audience, environment, and the intended message.

I can think of a many great writers of beauty that have captured my heart wholeheartedly through sentences that seem to go on forever. Proust is one of these. For his purposes, he is the best. But when it comes to the language of management and processes, does such language produce unnecessary complications? Even with Proust, there is undoubtedly an inescapable complicated messy life process, for those who have come after him, who gleaned from the beauty of his writing, but did not necessarily create such endless fluid lines, though their writings are also memorable. Proust, however, is timeless. My point simply put: Shorter lines in and of themselves do not engender beauty or a better process or outcome. What engender these things is having gone through some things (complications, nonetheless) in order to create simply beautiful things.

Now, how is all this applicable to how we do what we do in work environments? In comments on other blogs there is talk of simplicity and how it affects outcome. There is talk about the necessity of less complicated policy manuals, website transactions etc. I agree completely that most of this stuff is just asinine, unreadable, and therefore not actionable. I completely agree that most policy manuals are too long and not easily understood. I agree with Tom Peters: "Keep it simple! (Damn it!) No matter how 'sophisticated' the product. If you can't explain it in a phrase, a page, or to your 14-year-old ... you haven't got it right yet."

Just the other day after meeting with a lawyer to see if my simple two-page housing application was solid, my business partner, a brilliant engineer and inventor, stock trader, and senior executive at one of the Top 100, returned with an 18 page document that caused me to blow a gasket! (Perhaps, not the best reaction!?) To my utter dismay, he and the lawyer lengthened the document to "protect our interest" by 16 pages! Whose interest? Our interest? We would lose potential clients. I couldn't believe it! I don't know ONE client who would have appreciated filling out such a document!

This was RIDICULOUS! What it would do is bottle up the process, one that we've been having great success. It would also waste my time and I wasn't having it. It was soon determined that my simply created document had all the stuff of the longer one. Uh...yeah! After many different kinds of businesses (failures mostly) including real estate, and dealing with people on many different levels, I thought that I had covered all the basis. Lawyers! Can't live with them and don't necessarily want to live without them -- well, maybe fewer of them.

Having said the above, I must also say that I would like to believe that my two-page document is simply beautiful not because it is two pages, but because it embodies all the necessities, is well written, and is easily understood and enacted. Simple is beautiful when these things occur. Also, in writing, no matter the document, it is always so important to know your audience. This colors much.

Being simply beautiful can be seen in any writing, for any audience, where others take notice and simply wish to change, without being told that change is needed.

Being Naomi Shihab Nye

Here is one of my dearest most beloved friends, Naomi Shihab Nye, being interviewed by Bill Moyers where she reads her poem "The Art of Disappearing." Below is a portion of the transcript and Naomi reading this most beautiful poem. Enjoy!

BILL MOYERS: I want to come back in closing to-- to what is my favorite poem of yours. The one that-- that helped me most after I was recovering from heart surgery. I actually carry it around. In very tiny print. You can't read that, in my wallet. I read it. I don't know if I can follow it but I-- I am constantly reading it. And I printed it out for you to read. As you know, this is my favorite.



What beauty! I love you, my friend.

In the hustle and bustle of life and in the many moments of disingenuous encounters, what significance does this poem have for you? How is it significant personally or professionally?