This weekend I was reading a short book called FISH. About half
way through it a passage jumped out and grabbed me: "....the needs of the
organization and our needs as workers are the same...." After I had
underlined those words, I closed the book, leaned back, and then closed my
eyes. After a few minutes, I opened my eyes, sat up, grabbed my pen, and
scribbled all over the margins.
That line is a true statement, I wrote. Why do we each have the
same needs? The answer is so simple and obvious. Yet, it is so ignored
so often. Because contrary to all too common perverse and pervasive
beliefs, all faculty are human, all administrators are human, all students
are human, and all staff are human. Because contrary to all too common
beliefs, without the flowing vibrancy of human spirit and activity our
campuses are empty and lifeless shells no more meaningful than vacant
conches lying on a beach that had had their lives sucked out of them.
Because contrary to common belief, the our campuses are not the things of
buildings or lawns or labs or fountains or libraries or technological
gadgets. Our campuses are people.
And, while each of us are distinct individuals, we each have
something overriding in common with each other: human needs. We are not
separated from each other as much as we think however we haughtily or
deferentially restrict ourselves to and allow ourselves to be placed by
others into separating and constricting categories. The needs of our campus
as an institution is the same as the needs of each faculty member, as the
needs of each staff member, as the needs of each student, as the needs of
each administrator: to be heard, to be noticed, to be appreciated, to be
understood, to be respected, to be loved, to be valued. We all--each and
every one of us as well as each and every one of them--need energy,
enthusiasm, purpose, meaning, creativity, belief, commitment,
perseverance, strength, confidence, dreams, hope, kindness, imagination,
flexibility, wholeheartedness, passion, compassion, authenticity, and
integrity.
What would it be like if we ignored the artificial, man-made
chasms and barriers separating us, if we bridged and overcame them by
concentrating on the seminal kindredness of our human needs, if we
spiritedly took our whole human selves onto our campuses and into our
offices and into our classrooms and into our relationships with each
other, and humbly saw ourselves in each other?
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698 /~\ /\ /\
229-333-5947 /^\ / \ / /~\ \ /~\__/\
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-_~ / "If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\
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