My Father is Li Gang

In China, a drunken teenager hit and killed a girl on roller skates.  The police chased and tried to arrest him and he yelled to the crowd (in Chinese of course ;-)  "You can't sue me!  My father is Li Gang!!"  That's the truth.  If you are a son of a politician, police officer, or some royalty with money and power in China, you are likely to get off the hook for any kind of wrong doing.

An attempt to cover the incident immediately ensued, but the phrase "My father is Li Gang" went viral. People in China used the phrase whenever they did something that they didn't want to take responsibility for or to get out of things they didn't want to do:  "You can't make me do those dishes, my father is Li Gang!"  "I know I stayed out too late, but you can't get mad, my father is Li Gang!" The phrase struck a cord with me as well, especially when I thought about how prevalent evasive behavior for wrongdoing is in big business, the financial market and some of our politicians.   Not many people step up and take responsibility for some of the big issues and the affect they have had on the US and global world markets or environment?  Evidently many people's father is Li Gang.

Now I'm not a political artist really, my work to date has mostly been about poking fun at the mass sheep like mindsets that I see in myself and others.  My job more often than not is to simply capture in pictures what we are discussing in vision and strategy meetings when I'm working as a strategic illustrator.  So I was surprised when one morning I got up and created this drawing.

Perhaps I just wanted to remind myself that despite how we might wish things to go, we really don't ever get out of taking responsibility for our actions.  Someone once said to me, "The law of cause and effect has long reaching arms."  And so it is.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for this reminder, thankful for you, and thankful that I don't need a Li Gang in this lifetime.  May that little girl's family find peace, though they may not ever see retribution.  May she live on in us, memorialized through the internet and our love.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Patti

Blindsided And An Amygdala Unchecked

This week I was walking down the sidewalk leaving the bank en route to my car, when a 13 or 14 year old boy racing his bike on the sidewalk T-boned me.  He must have been trying to whip around the people to exit off the curb and onto the street when I happened to walk right directly into his path.  BOOM!  In a flash I went down on all fours.  When I stood up, what I did surprised me.  I grabbed the front of that boy's sweatshirt, pulled his face up to mine and screamed, "Don't you ever *&^%^ing ride on the sidewalk again!!!  You ride your bike only on the street, do you understand?!!!! And where is your HELMET?"

HIs eyes widened in terror, he must have thought I was going to deck him and he managed to stammer "Lady..."  I let go of his sweatshirt, walked past him to my car, got in and surveyed the damage.  My hands were ripped up, my head ached but nothing broken.  Only after I had driven round the corner did I realize I had not even asked that kid if he was okay.  I came to my senses, drove back, but he was gone.

There were two things that bothered me.  The first was my response.  What in the world had me react that way?  It was pure fear that manifested in anger, my amygdala (that part of the brain that is all about fight or flight) clearly was out of control.  I wrote Dr. Ellen F Weber (@ellenfweber on twitter) to ask what I could do to get a better handle on it, she wrote back, "Glad you are OK Patti - Yikes! Glad you didn't pop him tho:-) Amygdala is tough to calm at times. To practice in the calm moments helps."


The second was the thought that I had been "blindsided."  If every encounter without exception is there for our learning, where was I not paying attention to?  


It is easy to find yourself focused on your own little world, without being aware of what is changing around you, or whose path you are about to walk into.  Where is your tunnel vision keeping you from seeing the whole scene or picture in front of you?

A couple of tips for taking a closer look at your world:

Draw a quick stick figure cartoon of your life in this moment.  Capture (without judging your skills in drawing)  in both words and images what you are doing in relation to your work, money, relationships, family, health, balance - and anything else that pops into mind.   Sketch as quickly as you can without thinking.

Now look to see what is there.  Are there any areas where you are not seeing the full picture?  Any areas that could potentially blindside you or your business?

You don't need to grab your own shirtfront, but by checking in with your own current state you can fill the gaps and keep yourself aware and prepared for the unexpected.