Independence Day: Holiday or Lifestyle?

01 Jul Independence Day: Holiday or Lifestyle?

In North America, we are about to celebrate Independence Day, a glorious holiday. Being American stands not only for independence as a nation but also for personal independence, or individualism. We’re very proud of our individualism and the outcomes of that, such as competition, self-reliance, pulling oneself up by the boot straps and so forth.

Somehow, though, it feels as though we’ve lost our sense of interdependence in honor of being that individual. In the coaching world, we’re about transformation, emotional awareness, consciousness and relationships. Everything we ever need to learn about ourselves happens in relationships, doesn’t it? Yet I notice that we seem to struggle with asking for help, with showing our vulnerabilities (because somehow that is seen as weak), with admitting our mistakes, and with accepting that we need one another in order to truly grow. It used to take all of us to survive, in the Wild West. It still does–but it doesn’t feel like it anymore, because we have our homes, our cars and jobs, and we are fooled into feeling self-sufficient.

And I guess we are self-sufficient, but at what cost to our sense of humanity, our collective beingness? Are we truly happy being so self-sufficient? Could we, as a nation that influences so many other nations, be stuck in a country-wide adolescent phase of “me,” or “the individual?”

Could there be an elder wisdom from other nations that models unity and wholeness? Can we pursue our individual identity without forsaking the collective wisdom?

While we are out celebrating the birth of our nation, here’s my thought for today: There is glory, and beauty and peace, in being held together by each other. Lean in.