Getting Winter's Cussedness Out

Written by Benjamin Webb Monday, 14 February 2011 22:11

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Dear Friends,

It’s been a cold winter, with harsh wind chills, the snow deep and drifted, and many overcast days, though this day is clear, warm and bright - almost as if spring offers its first greeting.

But until a day like this one, winter in the Midwest can be long, and whether light sensitive or not, people so easily get cabin cramps this time of year, with a little grumpiness seeping into our organizations. What’s a leader to do when he or she feels short-tempered or blue themselves? How does one get the cussedness out, whether your own or others?

That phrase, “getting the cussedness out”, belongs to Arnold Webster, a nurseryman who was a dear friend of Daryl Smith, one of Iowa’s foremost prairie restorationists. After one of their regular walks in the prairie together, Arnold turned to Daryl and said, “An hour in the prairie will take the cussedness out of any man.”

Tall prairie grass, with its deep roots nearly twice the length of its shoots, inspired our logo here at the Center for Regenerative Society. The prairie ecosystem made the soils of the upper Midwest incredibly productive. The richness of its soils and the resilience of its plants, which send fresh green shoots up through the ash after a burn, make the prairie a fitting metaphor for regenerative leadership. A walk in the prairie puts us in touch with the prairie’s regenerative powers, and with our own. This self-renewing capacity of the prairie -- its inner vitality -- gives it a resilience to withstand anything that the dramatic cycle of seasons around it can dish out.

Just as winter is a time when the land rests,
winter is a particularly good time for leaders to carve out moments of rest and renewal for the health of our bodies, minds and spirits.

Doing so can make all the difference to us personally and professionally, and in the organizations and communities that look to us for healthy life and leadership. Keeping a regular practice of some kind can inspire others to do the same and reshape the dynamics of a group, extending the benefit beyond the sphere of just one person.

Winter offers many opportunities for pause – and for renewal. It doesn’t much matter where that happens, be it the prairie, a walk in the woods, a cross-country ski along the river, or curled up at one end of the couch with a good novel or book of poetry. However, most of us find that using our body in some active and refreshing way really does stimulate the endorphins and good humors that positively alter our emotional state and put us in a better frame of mind, one that takes the cussedness out.

To be renewed in body, mind and spirit, it often helps to let the body lead. The body doesn’t so much house the human soul, as the soul encapsulates the body. We feel that largeness and presence of the human soul even as someone walks into a room. Yet the body is its beacon, just as the eyes are a window onto our soul. The light that shines out of us as leaders requires some care of the soul, which often begins with care of the body.

On one cross-country ski outing this Winter, I made my way out to a bend in the river and an eddy of water turning clockwise as it gathered particles of ice into its widening vortex. The disk of ice, like spiraling planets in a galaxy, was turning ever so slowly. Fixing my gaze on this mesmerizing sight I found myself lost in time, feeling as though I was watching the world itself slowly turning on its axis, this fragile earth our island home spinning within the vast expanse of interstellar space.

It was both a quieting and enlarging experience, one that made me recall a song called Clock of the World, in which that disk of ice became for me the gently turning earth keeping perfect holy time. Transfixed, I eventually awoke and went back to work refreshed, as I always do.

~          ~          ~

Where do you go to reliably find such a place
and experience within yourself?

How do you get the cussedness out and
encounter the sacred again?

Feel free to share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment here.


Sincerely,

Benjamin Webb
Director

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