Fear of the Deep End

"Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler."

Albert Einstein
Physicist, Nobel Laureate, Author










My adventures with water went like this: splashing, wading, breath holding, floating, kicking in the shallow end, then the Y and the dark fear of the blurry depths beneath the diving board. That one took time, but at some point, I found the courage and leaped in. "Don't stop, SWIM!” yelled the coach. Ah! The light dawned, and I was in motion. I swam, dived and proudly, became a Life Guard.

In my fascination with the pool, diving and the occasional daring rescue, I never noticed that the neighborhood kids had remained in the backyard; safely avoiding "the monsters of the deep.” I invited them to the pool – offering to teach even; but the pronouncement came back – "We can't swim!"

I wondered, "Does ‘can't swim’ perhaps mean, ‘Won't try?’"

Later on, during an ocean sail, I jumped over the side into the salty, cold, calm sea and with a shock and deep fear, realized that I was once again "out of my depth.” It's a long way down to a bottom you can’t see or even find. I conquered that fear as well, concluding that "swimming" is "what you do in water" – no matter what the depth.

Today I'm finding that as water has "depth," so too do ideas.

As a child, when the conversation went to "deeper realms," I ran out to play. But increasingly, the desire for substance led me to "wade in" and hang with the elders in discussions that were clearly "over my head," but I learned to "swim" in the "sea of ideas."

I've noticed of late, that when the discussion is of scores (or scoring), everyone wades in. But when the conversation gets deeper, it's "Everyone out of the pool!"

The requests (sometimes outraged demands...) come for a "simplification" – to make the content easier. "You guys used a term I don't get, a word I never heard; a reference I've never contemplated! How dare you? Make it simpler so I can understand it!" Perhaps they're saying, "I can't swim?” Or perhaps they’re saying, “I won’t try.”

While it’s reasonable and responsible to simplify; as Einstein said, “As simple as possible, but not simpler.” We believe the acquisition of knowledge is a two-sided responsibility – for both the teacher and the student to reach for a connection in the middle.

Certainly, the deep end is murky, but the added color, nuance, flavor and sophistication of deeper ideas makes pursuing them worthwhile. It can be scary to find yourself "in over your head.” Yet, sounding the "deep philosophy" is an adventure – which takes years of learning and practice "Hanging with the Masters."

I'm not Einstein. Yet it seems that both with water and ideas, the point is not to sit there, but to dive in and learn. Don't ask to make it simpler! Ask instead how you can become deep enough to understand.

Don't just sit there, SWIM!

Walking Your Talk

“The neck bone connected to the back bone,
The back bone connected to the thigh bone,
The thigh bone connected to the knee bone,
The knee bone connected to the leg bone,
The leg bone connected to the foot bone
Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk a-roun'!”


Excerpted from “Dem Bones”
Lyrics by James Weldon Johnson
African-American Author & Songwriter
(1871-1938)













It’s an old song, but it gives a visual reality to the demand for things to connect, and align in order to function. Our culture is so focused on speed and multi-tasking that in many cases, the resulting stressors on the component parts of our bodies have knocked us out of physical alignment and left us susceptible to dis-ease. The lack of intellectual alignment impacts our lives as we become prone to lip service and disingenuous speech; a lack of spiritual alignment leaves us vulnerable to Machiavellian ethics and a loss of spiritual or “structural integrity.”

If the parts of a bridge structure become rusted, bent or out of alignment, the structure can no longer “carry the load” for which it was designed. It has lost its “structural integrity.” If the foundations of a building do not connect and align with the upper stories, the building will be declared unsafe and a hazard not only to people inside; but also to those in the surrounding area. The loss of structural integrity often comes after a major climatic event such as an earthquake or a storm – yet many buildings today are engineered to take a big quake in stride, flexing with the tremor, but ”returning to true” in short order. In fact, the real measure of structural integrity is perhaps measured by how much stress a building can take and still return to carrying the load.

I wonder if our definition of “Integrity” ought to begin with a structural context, and add an intellectual and a spiritual one as well? Isn’t it a matter of first forming beliefs and values, then stating them clearly, and finally moving on and living accordingly – so that belief, story and behavior connect and align?

I’ve seen many instances where individuals and corporations have been subjected to such stress, and twisted so far out of alignment that they are no longer able to carry the load. They have bent with the strain and lost their structural, intellectual and spiritual integrity. Sadly, the examples in the public sphere are all too common where what is said or claimed, does not carry through into trustworthy behavior.

Some good life questions:

Check your beliefs – are they still solid? Do they still carry the load?

Are you able to tell your story, simply, succinctly and with passion?

Are your actions a living demonstration of alignment of thought, word and deed? Do you have “structural integrity?”

It’s hard to form a belief, tell your story and act accordingly through all aspects of a life AND a career. It’s against the backdrop of a world rocked by seismic events where few people, corporations or countries make honest claim to what they believe, and demonstrate it daily that we begin to see the crystalline power of enduring values, plain speech and behavior that aligns.

And yet, that may be the highest goal; you’ll be a rare being and worth the dedication of family, friends and colleagues. Perhaps it is a fitting time for “returning to true” and then we will be walking our talk.