| Working with a Will |
| No, not yet, move nothing until you have filled yourself with intention, or your act will freeze, immutable, and your thought will have aborted into misshapen stumbling. We stammer in the effort to speak, lurch out of a passion to walk, slump in lieu of sitting; yet, within, awareness reaches toward an attainable state in which we seek to direct our selves as a rider guides the most accomplished of horses, crupper gathering, hooves pattering, neck yearning toward heaven, and the supple trunk conveys itself over the earth without anticipation or effort. This is the ascent into the self, encountering possibility just as it flowers into the actual. We attain fulfillment only if we carry the breath of the world without surrender or escape. |
| Peter Davison |
| About the Poem |
This poem was on the cover of our annual Report for 1998 and established the word, "Intentionality" as our touchstone theme for the following year, 1999. To inter-phrase the last third of the poem with our view of ourselves, "We attain fulfillment"... (in our work as brokers, partners and small business owners) ..."only if we carry the breath of the world"... (a belief in the importance -- to a life well-lived -- of conflict, effort, resolution, consideration, definition, continuing tension, and forward movement) ..."without anticipation or effort, without surrender or escape."... on behalf of our clients. To our customers we claim that we always know what to do next. Nevertheless, we are transparent to our clients so that our actions also serve as openhanded invitations to question us and our judgements. We are not creatures of mindless habit, routine, defensive reactivity, hidden agendas, sleight of hand, or malicious manipulation. We ought always to be able to explain to you how our advice is responsive to your situation, how our actions advance your interests -- all things considered -- and how the reaction of the evaluating world is to be interpreted in light of what we recommend you do next. |