The Art of War helps you know when to engage and when to retreat. It took me way too many years to learn this art form. I was headlong into engage so many times when all the signs were pointing to retreat.
I was watching a clip in the Hall’s Masterclass: Prince yesterday where Prince is called up to the stage at Michael Jackson’s request to James Brown. Prince got up and went full on engagement and then had to retreat. Prince shoulda, coulda, used the Art of Tack Left, which would have been an expert move to not go to either extreme but rather to use a maneuver that could have changed the direction of him sailing directly into the disaster he was headed.
I can’t say enough good things about the Art of Tack Left. I know in battle they blow the horn to charge AND to retreat, but there is also the subtle nuance of the shift. The shift is an important skill to hone because you don’t give up all that you have put into the momentum, you just assess and tack left. A slightly different version of the direction you had been headed.
I’ve been considering the Art of Tack Left as my seven year anniversary approaches at the 100 Men Hall, and as our current government engages in a Battle Royale with all we have built over hundreds of years. What the Hall has been doing needs some shifts on the theme. One of these shifts is already in motion – it is to answer the call to arms – what to do about the fact that the powers that be around us wish to divide us? Well, we rally to unite us (of course) – and for that, the Hall is deftly responding with One Mississippi.
Now for the voices that need amplifying but have no platform, we need to create one.
Then for the culture that needs telling but has no outlet, give them a stage.
I have spent the last three glorious days watching the genius of Prince explode across the projector screen. We have a Prince expert teaching us here at the Hall – C Liegh McInnis. Prince never lost center, even as he kept stretching himself past the boundaries that were created for him. He stayed uniquely Prince, bringing along a whole host of loved ones, enlarging the canvas, holding onto his power. I’m a little gaga over Prince right now as you might be able to tell. But it also coincides with a lot of soul searching that has come up for me lately.
The Dalai Lama said our gift is to find something useful in our life that creates happiness for others. I hope to hone in on this work in the next chapter of my life. In my musings, I have been defaulting to the question of whether now is the time to engage or withdraw, when I should have been focusing on the Art of Tack Left.
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