Most of us have heard it, probably more than once. And we've surely felt it, and been caught up in it at some point. Or perhaps we're still caught up.
I remember that, when I first became aware of the 'Culture of Urgency' that I'd been entranced by, I was consulting on several change-management communication projects, to several different large-sized organizations.
One was a healthcare system; all had corporate or organizational cultures that emphasized, or perhaps idolized, 'urgency'.
As I conducted a wide variety of conversations with people throughout the organizations, it also became clear that the organizations of 'urgency' had something else in common: a culture with norms of rudeness, curtness, brusqueness, and high levels of stress and problematic communication.
We might also notice this in urban areas, in which a fast-paced culture seems inevitably paired with incidences of 'road rage', rudeness, disconnection, coldness, or observations such as people stepping over persons slumped against buildings, without a so much as a glance.
In San Francisco during the dot-com invasion of the late-90s and early 2000s, longer-term residents of the City noticed that, as the culture was permeated by people flocking in for the 'get rich quick' technology boom, those less-civil observances became more and more the norm.
For example, San Francisco was awarded the distinction of having one of the highest levels of pedestrian injuries, because people were more routinely rolling through stop signs or red lights and hitting pedestrians.
These observations, as it turns out, are not unusual.
Research by people such as Daniel Goleman, author of the book Emotional Intelligence, indicates a connection between empathy and compassion and our ability to be present and aware enough to choose them.
The faster the pace, the more distracted or in a hurry we are, the less we're aware in the moment, and the less we choose our innate capacity to empathize or be compassionat, or to even be more skillful.
Perhaps this is why civilizations, as they became more industrialized, urbanized, automated, and high-tech, may also seem to be, upon study, more brutal or less compassionate.
It would be interesting to delve further, but from the information available, it's at the very least a fair question. Goleman, in a TED talk, emphasizes that all individuals have the capacity for empathy and compassionate.
We are innately 'wired' or created to connect with and empathize, and from that sense of connection and empathy choose a compassionate, altruistic action or response.
When we do things that help us to slow down, center ourselves, be more present, pay closer attention, we are more likely to act from this innate capacity for connection, empathy, compassion, and loving kindness.
Spiritual traditions have historically emphasized practices such as contemplation, presence, attention, prayer, and meditation. There are some philosophical traditions that have emphasized the same, though in a non-spiritual context.
Each of those helps us to disengage from our culture-induced (and well-ingrained and reinforced) addiction to urgency, to speed, and perhaps the adrenalin addiction that accompanies with it.
Practices that help us to slow down also help us to detox, and by doing so, re-engage with our innately 'Divine' qualities, or, as Abraham Lincoln put it, the better angels of our nature. More recent research shows that such practices strengthen our intuition, creativity, inspiration, and other highly valuable 'right-brain' or Feminine capacities.
Given the current state of things, where the costs of our speed addictions and cultural idolatry of 'urgency' are horribly evident, what used to be 'a luxury' or 'a waste of time' -- through the lens of our addiction to urgency -- has now become essential not only to the better angels of our nature, but to the wellbeing of Mother Earth, Gaia, and all of us who are supported by her.
Giving our attention to those practices and ways of being that help us to slow down, and approach our 'doings' in this way, is a great way to allot our energy, time, and attention.
So don't just do something, sit there. Go slowly, and notice.
Blessings,
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To listen in and watch Daniel Goleman's TED talk, follow the link.
Image Credits: Image # 1 by Robert S. Donovan and 'Bright Atlanta' by Nrbelex, both from Spiral Gallery Creative Commons; a personal photo from Aqua Sulis in Bath, England; Kwan Yin by an unknown artist (the search continues!).
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