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| Ballad of Shard and Bone by LiDoña Wagner |
Acknowledging An Aging Body
Since I've been doing yoga for fifteen years, I saw no problem in
attending a yoga class - for young people. I was pretty much keeping up until,
getting into half-moon pose, I noticed that the instructor was coming around
correcting student poses. Instinctively, I threw back my extended back leg to
auto-correct my pose. Ohhh … owwww!
Assuming that athletes are always pushing an edge, next day I
ignored the discomfort in my groin and walked three painful miles. Returning
home, I went online to find advice on healing groin injuries. I got the
recommended walking stick and attempted to keep up with my normal schedule. After walking another three excruciating miles the following weekend, reality crashed through my resistance. A doctor appointment got me a referral
to a physical therapist.
“Stop what you’re doing and REST,” said my newly minted
physical therapist. “You have an injured adductor muscle and it will require a
12-week healing process.” 12 weeks!!!!
“From the initial injury or from the last re-injury?” I queried. “The
last re-injury,” she said firmly.
By our second session she had me figured out. “Resting does NOT mean walking. It means lying down, maybe some sitting, icing, and a few gentle knee drops. It means not going up and down the stairs more than three times a day.”
By our second session she had me figured out. “Resting does NOT mean walking. It means lying down, maybe some sitting, icing, and a few gentle knee drops. It means not going up and down the stairs more than three times a day.”
Self-Imposed Exile
Ok, I get it. If I do not want to permanently disable
myself, I will have to go into self-imposed exile and REST. I cancelled
everything except home-based teaching and mentoring sessions and began cultivating
an intimate relationship with the floor. How many postures do you think there
are for icing and reading at the same time?
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| How oral cultures memorize extraordinary amounts of information. |
In the midst of ‘forced rest’ I had a book going upstairs
and one going downstairs. Downstairs I read The
Memory Code and upstairs I reread Clan
of the Cave Bear, a classic from 1980. The
Memory Code is about methods used by oral cultures to memorize vast amounts
of knowledge. Clan of the Cave Bear
is about pre-verbal Neanderthals picking up, raising, and caring for a Homo sapiens child, Ayla. Reading the books simultaneously was amazing.
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| Yes, Neanderthals and Homo sapiens did interact. |
Coming back to Clan of the Cave Bear thirty-seven years after the first time, I found it just as riveting and
moving. But there was a difference. While I still identified with the challenges Ayla faced for being different, this time I was no longer involved in a
patriarchal organization similar to the clan of the cave bear. I was able to
get a bit of distance on my feelings and look at the book analytically.
In reading the description of the book’s author, Jean Auel,
I was struck by the fact that she had an MBA and asked myself how this affected
her writing. I realized her MBA experience meant she was able to provide clear
examples of four different styles of leadership.
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| Encrustations of Time by LiDoña Wagner |
Leadership Styles
Clan leader Brun was a sensitive and responsive executive
who sought the involvement of his people when making decisions that would
impact the clan’s future. He was able to step back and get an overview. He found ways for the clan to accommodate Ayla’s
differentness. Too late, he realized that his son was unable to lead the clan.
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| Bear Medicine by LiDoña Wagner |
Medicine Woman Iza was a compassionate maternal healer and
teacher. She cared about giving Ayla a viable future in spite of the clan’s
tendency to dismiss and alienate her. Born of another species of hominids, she
transcended her own heritage and saw Ayla as her ‘true daughter’ who would
carry forward her line of great healers.
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| Shaman Invoking Wisdom by LiDoña Wagner |
Spiritual leader Creb was forced to balance a paternal-like love
for Ayla with responsibility for the wellbeing of the clan. Disfigured and deformed, he understood Ayla’s predicament. With his
capacity to meditate deeply he could see that Ayla represented the future and
the clan did not.
Arrogant and self-centered Broud, son of Brun and thus
future leader of the clan hated and abused Ayla. He thought only of himself and
his desire to be the center of attention. He represented the autocratic leader and the dark side of the clan hierarchy that would lead to its demise.
Once I saw Clan as
a representation of leadership styles, I began to make some contemporary
comparisons. Barack Obama was one of the wisest and most compassionate leaders in
American history. He took the long view and set in motion solutions to long-range problems. Michelle Obama used her maternal nature to bring healthy food and
exercise to neglected populations. Pope Francis understands his responsibility
for laying a path into a transformed world. I think it is clear that the
Dumpster is the dark side of America that wreaks needless destruction in his
need to be the center of attention.
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| Maiden Mother Crone by LiDoña Wagner |
So where and who is Ayla? Who represents the unfolding
future for our planet? Who brings us new ways of seeing reality and solving
problems? Who sees the dark side but refuses to give in to it? Who has the courage to resist the powers of darkness?
