I live just down the road from the MacDowell Colony, the nation’s leading artist colony with a rich history of nurturing some of the greatest talents of the past century. My brother’s been a colony fellow twice, long before we lived in NH.
I was watching a new short video about the colony and it ended with this line quoted from Marian MacDowell, wife of composer Edward MacDowell and the driving force behind the creation of the Colony in 1907:
“My purpose was to prevent the non-writing of a great poem.”
That’s just brilliant. And I thought, ah, that’s what great conflict resolution and negotiation is about. Preventing the non-success of a great business. Preventing the non-sustaining of a great interpersonal relationship. Preventing the non-peace of mind in a great human.
Conflict Zen® by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at ConfictZen.Lenski.com.
Hi Tammy,
I really like this thought: “Preventing the non-sustaining of a great interpersonal relationship.”
I appreciate how you give me new ways to think about things.
Thanks.
Guy
Thanks for the kindness of your words, Guy. I’m having a bit of a down day and that lifted me up considerably!
Deep… Very deep… I love this and am still thinking about it days later. My mom and brother danced to “I hope you dance” at my brother’s wedding and the song is all about participating in life (the dance) and not letting life pass you by. Your quote reminds me of that moment in my life watching my mom and brother dance and her encouraging him to live every moment to its fullest…. You never know what you miss if you don’t give it a try…..
Sandy
Sandy, I read your comment and went straight to iTunes to listen to “I hope you dance.” Thanks for the additional song in my playlists and for taking the time to comment — great image of your brother and mom dancing.
you inspired me to listen to the song again (Lee Anne Womack) – brings tears to my eyes every single time. A great song for this time of year and a great reminder to live life to its fullest and to be thankful for all the gifts in our lives.
Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for the inspiration. Unbelievable how a song can touch someone so very deeply!!
Sandy
Happiest of Thanksgivings to you, too, Sandy. Here’s a link to the story of one of my more memorable Thanksgivings.