Richard Edelman recently wrote a piece for Time Magazine that caught my attention. He started out by referencing the English poet John Donne, who in 1614 wrote a poem entitled “No Man is an Island”. In the poem, Donne warns that “No man is an island entire in itself…Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.” The poem makes a case for human connectiveness in light of the fact that our very individual existence relies on human connection.
The poem ends with: “Therefore send not to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Interestingly, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is the title of a book written in 1940 by Ernest Hemingway. His book hones in on the relentlessness required in the heat of battle during the Spanish American War. It strikes me that both of these citations from the same poem at separate times in history are relevant to our current times of distress.
In his article, “The Age of Distress”, Edelman, a communications company CEO and author of The Edelman Trust Barometer, shares results from the research he has conducted for the last quarter-century. He focuses on a disturbing loss of belief in our worldwide institutions and their leaders. He observes that “trust is increasingly local and limited to our known associations and our personal circle of friends.” In fact, his surveys point out that seven out of ten people across 28 nations are “hesitant or unwilling to interact with people who are from different backgrounds, or who have different values and approaches to societal problems.“ He fears that our collective mindset is “retreating from alarm and anger to a hard shell of insularity.”
In his opinion, the only way we can counter such dangerous insularity from the world’s distress is to broker more trust in our dealings with each other. In particular, he encourages employers and community leaders to engage in brokering trust where they live and work. But he also reminds us that as individuals, we also have a vital role to play in building trust in the community.
For me, building trust begins with me choosing habits that feed my spirit and impact others positively. In the last few years, I have read a lot about the power of adopting gratitude as a habit. I find doing this allows me to get outside my human limitations to where I can see that I am part of a much larger intricate network of sustaining relationships which are mutually beneficial. I find that gratitude amplifies the positive and connects me to others in meaningful ways. This focus, in turn, can lead me toward the common good instead of more selfish behaviors. The resources for growing gratitude are numerous and easy to access which makes it easier to commit to the gratitude attitude. This commitment has served me well.
In closing, I want to express my gratitude for having the time and opportunity to read, think and share my concerns and hopes here in this column. It keeps me connected to you all and motivated to stay positive in these demanding times.
