| ANNE WILLIAMSON |
This week in WAYfinding we begin discussing the Seven Deadly Sins. If your mind immediately went to the movie starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman; yes, those are the seven to which I'm referring, but no, images from our approach will not haunt you 20 years later. Bad call in letting me watch that movie, Mom and Dad; bad call.
Chilling flashbacks aside, I like the Seven Deadly Sins as our framework. They're culturally embedded. Theories abound on casts of characters who represent each sin in literature, and on the big and little screens: Gilligan's Island, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Friends, Winnie the Pooh. These sins are in the air we breathe - and not only our amusements. They're also part of our systems and institutions, our history and future. The seven deadly sins are often the shadow side of our own personality as well. We each know what it's like to feel and enact greed, lust, pride, envy, sloth, gluttony, and wrath. We've felt the complexity of our reasons - many of which point to the real sins - and yet, we've still suffered the consequences. We also sense, intuitively, there are healthy expressions of these sins: that anger can serve us; lust free us; envy inspire us; that life, sometimes, should be swallowed whole.
The Seven Deadly Sins are messy. We're sure to hold different ideas, have had different experiences. But, messy is life, and it's definitely sin. I hope you'll jump in and kick up a little dirt with us. Up first: sloth...
This week in WAYfinding, after reflecting on sloth generally, we'll use this TED Radio Hour excerpt and its corresponding TED Talk (below) to discuss one possible slothful expression: political apathy. If you can't join us in groups, listen to the below on your own or with a friend, partner, family member. What do you think? What do they? Then, take a moment to listen for what's stirring in you. Perhaps you're feeling pulled to listen more deeply, learn something new or love better. Set your intention and go about the work of being or doing.