Aug. 18, 2020 — “Those who remove mountains begin by carrying away small stones.” We thought we’d feature this art print today because — whether in a bookcase, on a wall or credenza — this unassuming 8×10 can remind us that, as tensions mount, we can each still carry on toward peace and unity.
I need to backtrack here and share that, following our Congrats to Sen. Harris last week, we received a handful of disheartening objections among the many cheers. It wasn’t the criticism, per se, that dismayed us — constructive criticism is vital to the card-making process and we seek it daily. It was that anyone in our little community of kindred spirits would not want to celebrate the historic proportion of that nomination. (Ok, and the tone of one email in particular did make us say “yikes” and wonder just how we’re all going to make it through the coming months.)
Then we heard from what we might call a conscientious objector. Cardie Susan Petersen stated her objections to our mailing so clearly and eloquently that we obtained permission to quote her here. “There are few respites from the political rancor these days,” she explained, “and what appears to be the injection of politics into every portion of our daily lives. So I look for those ‘soft places to fall’ for a break from the chaos.”
Aha! Got it. Message received.
Susan made her point in such a lovely and respectful way that we were able to hear. And it reminded us of the clear, soothing quality of this excerpt from psychologist Dr. David Keirsey’s book Please Understand Me. I first read it decades ago, and still pull it out every so often to reconnect with its wisdom and gain clarity. We’ve shared it before, and believe it’s worth sharing again now as we all try to manage the challenging interactions of our own.
“If I do not want what you want, please try not to tell me that my want is wrong. Or, if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view. Or, if my emotion is less than yours — or more, given the same circumstances — try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly.
“I do not, for the moment at least, ask you to understand me. That will come only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you. If you will allow me any of my own wants or emotions or beliefs or actions, then you open yourself so that, someday, these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might finally appear to you as right — for me.
“To put up with me is the first step to understanding me. Not that you embrace my ways as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with me for my seeming waywardness. And, in understanding me, you might come to prize my differences from you and — far from seeking to change me — preserve and even nurture those differences.”
Thank you all for making your feelings known. From now on, we’ll do as my late mother would say, “Go easy.” And, from Susan, “Here’s to calmness and serenity taking over the world!!”
jodee stevens
founder & chief creative
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