-----------------
Psychohumor Pop: Poetry with Pith & Punch!
Err Apparent [a bumper sticker perspective]
Consider this slogan, perhaps circumstantial
Perchance an omen – more existential
Or maybe simply how it is done:
To err is human…but to blame someone…
Now that shows management potential!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Paradoxical Dream and/or Delusion
To bridge the head and the heart
To see an end as a new startTo gain control by letting go
To be so humble yet steal the show
Both oak tree firm and willow nimble
Flowing as one Yin/Yang symbol
To nobly reach a lifetime dream
To be much more than what you seem.
The highest art of any magic –
To find some comic in the tragic.
Oh how to fuse both earth and sky?
Simple: Be a wise man and a wise guy!
All this is truly hard to do
Except, of course, for "the chosen" few –
The self-righteous who join body and mind
By parading their EGOs up their behind!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disarming Egos and Power Struggles
Do you get caught up in power struggles
Mostly cause of big EGO tuggles?
When someone tries pulling your chain
Duh…it doesn’t take too much of a brain…
One simply must pull stronger and longer
When there are only winners and wrongers.
Hey, no matter the name of the game
God forbid you should appear lame!
Black or white, might makes right
Think like me or out of sight.
Good or bad, why so sad?
Get in line…don’t make me mad!
But wait…let’s head off the next migraine
And view this from another frame:
You don’t have to be a saint
All you need: a touch of restraint…
Now who’s being smart…and who just ain’t?
As the other keeps pulling harder and harder
Flexing those muscles or being a martyr
A bit too proud of their stress and strain…
Big or small, we all must fall
If we are to hear our call.
The true path of humble pie:
Stumble, tumble...leap and fly!
Pretend to be a very Mad Hatter
Ready to scuffle, be a little insane…
First a wolf howl, then non-stop chatter…
Enough! Suddenly smile, your new way to cope
Do the royal wave – your best beatific Pope
I wonder who’ll feel like the big dope
As you, oh so calmly, “Drop the da_n rope!”
One must eat a little crow
To find life’s key: “Letting go!”
You are more than what you seem
When you allow a “Self” to scheme!
Remember, dropping the rope isn’t based on fear
Nor does it mean you could not less care…and
Despite ranting and rage…at our tender age
Most can’t afford to lose anymore hair.
This kind of struggle is a big waste of time…
Either you and I start using our noodle
And join together for a brain huddle
At least becoming partners in crime
Or I go back and mind my own muddle
Lampooning the world through rhythm and rhyme.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Blaming “You”s
“It’s all your fault”; “You drive me crazy!”
Sounds like an assault from a mind that is lazy.
Do not be shy, here’s one good reply –
Looking eye to eye…with tone a tad dry:
“Time after time, I know you have said it…
Alas, you still give me way too much credit.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You for Me: The Narcissist’s Version [to the tune of “Tea for Two”]
You for me and me for me
Oh how nurturing you will be
Forget “to be or not to be”…
Just simply think of Me, Me, Me!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Losing It
You may think I’m at a loss
Not having you as a boss.
But when it’s just me
Not us or you…
Please, do not tell me what do.
Even when you “know what’s best”
(Though never quite put to the test)Let me flounder; wait...still better
A request: Geez, Louise…Just let it rest!
© Mark Gorkin 2014-15
Shrink Rap ™ Productions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Cultivation of “Passion Power” – Part I:
On Becoming a Compelling and Engaging Communicator
Several years back, waiting to give a talk on “Passion Power” to a Virginia Chapter of the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), an attendee approached, spurred by the program title. Having been a Sales Manager in another life, he shared a popular slogan from his former profession: Logic Tells…But Passion Sells! Perhaps he was a fan of the 17th century French classical writer, Francois La Rouchefoucald. FLR observed (quoted in Kay Redfield Jamison’s Exuberance: The Passion For Life, Random House, 2004):
Passions are the only orators which always persuade. They are like an act of nature, the rules of which are infallible; and the simplest man who has some passion persuades better than the most eloquent who has none.
There wasn’t time for real discussion with the ex-sales pro, but his pithy slogan resonates across many domains – from selling to an external public to servicing, managing, and bringing to life people, policies, and procedures within a corporation or organization. In my mind, the crux of this mantra has vast implications for whether “message sent is message received”…and acted upon! That is, “logical information or analysis mostly places “data” on the table. Whether the data is seen or scanned, picked up and mentally manipulated, toyed or played with (in a positively cognitive-imaginative sense), and finally ingested…eventually providing food if not inspiring fuel for thought… well, that’s a whole other category of experience. (And in today’s TNT – Time-Numbers-Technology – Driven & Distracted World,” just penetrating a perceiver’s consciousness is no small accomplishment.)
“Passion”: Roots and Boosts
So why does data with an aura of passion or content designed or delivered by a passionate communicator so often touch, grab, and successfully target the head, and especially, the human heart? What enables this information to become a more compelling and engaging “category of experience?”
Let’s get to the root of the issue…Passion! What does it evoke? Intensity, heat, steaminess…the “s”-word: “soap opera?” No, of course it’s Sex. Actually, we in the Washington, DC area know the real “s”-word for passion…It’s “Senator.” (Or it was until Bill Clinton ruined my joke.) Interestingly, if you have a good dictionary the “s”-word for “passion” is neither sex nor senator…it’s “suffering,” as in the Passion Play. This relates to the sufferings of Jesus or, more generically, to the sufferings of a martyr. (Imagine all this time I never knew my Jewish mother was such a passionate woman! Not surprisingly, wit and humor often adds to the passion and power of a message. This booster effect especially holds when these cognitive-affective-communicative tools help us knowingly laugh at and forgive our own human flaws and foibles, or humble and bring down to earth a haughty or all-knowing/controlling EGOtist.)
Leading Edge of Passion
Over the years, the best audience free association to the word “passion” has been “Rosa Parks.” Which inspires speculation around the connections among “suffering,” “passion” and being a powerful leader or motivator? For me, it’s an individual who has experienced and is sensitive to injustice or, at least, has a low threshold for “constructive discontent.” And such a person also identifies and empathizes with her own and others’ pain while articulating this personalized understanding.
Also, the passionate leader doesn’t just recall old wounds or wonders; he or she is capable of learning from the past to better forge new pathways to the future. Regarding the last point, renowned 20th century English author, John Fowles, called emotional memories his electric current; to maximize his creative juices he needed to be plugged in to this “power source.” And these creative perceptions and pathways may help lead others to a land of more promise, if not the “Promised Land.” So when an individual connects past and current passion-pain and then plugs into or partners these two with a sense of individual and communal purpose, an uncommonly fruitful species of common and uncommon power is evolving.
Stay tuned for Part II: The Cultivation of “Passion Power”: Improvising the “Out-Rage-ous”. Until then…Practice Safe Stress!
Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, "The
Stress Doc" ™, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker,
is a national keynote and webinar speaker and "Motivational Humorist &
Team Communication Catalyst" known for his interactive, inspiring and FUN
programs for both government agencies and major corporations. The Doc is a training and Stress Resilience
Consultant for The Hays Companies, an international corporate insurance and wellness brokerage
group. He has also led “Resilience, Team
Building and Humor” programs for various branches of the Armed Services.
Mark, a former Stress and Violence Prevention Consultant for the US Postal
Service, is the author of Resiliency
Rap, Practice Safe Stress, and of The Four Faces of Anger.
See his award-winning, USA Today Online "HotSite" – www.stressdoc.com
– called a "workplace resource" by National Public Radio (NPR). For more info on
the Doc's "Practice Safe Stress" programs or to receive his free
e-newsletter, email stressdoc@aol.com or call 301-875-2567.
No comments:
Post a Comment