Living Life
That Wanaka Tree
Location: New Zealand - Southern end of Lake Wanaka in Otago region
Photographer: Paolo Matarazzo
"New Zealand's Most Famous Tree"
That Wanaka Tree, also known as the Wanaka Willow, has become a popular destination for photographers. Unfortunately, it has been damaged on several occasions, both intentionally and unintentionally. Due to tourists climbing it, a branch came off of it in late 2017. The local tourism board installed signs discouraging the practice, yet the tree was vandalized on 18 March 2020, with multiple limbs being sawn off. The tree's roots are submerged in cold water; therefore, the tree's limbs would likely be slow to grow back.
Resilience
Just as the Wanaka tree thrives despite the challenges it faces from the surrounding waters and societal disregard; we too can embody strength and resilience in the face of changes and adversity. By standing tall, embracing our uniqueness, and staying true to ourselves, we have the power to inspire those around us, just as this magnificent willow tree does for us.
The Lion - Roar
Location: Tanzania - Serengeti National Park
Photographer: Paolo Matarazzo
"The Big Five – One of the must-see animals in African safaris”
The Lion, the second largest cat in the world, inhabits the grasslands and savannahs in Sub-Saharan Africa. The roar of a lion can be heard as far away as 5 miles from the source. The lionesses do much of the hunting using a “team approach”. Lions generally stand for strength and courage. The average lion will spend between 16 and 20 hours a day just resting or sleeping. It’s because they do not have many sweat glands and so they can conserve energy. They will appear to watch the world unfold around them. During our trip to Serengeti National Park, my family and I were so close to this beautiful creature that, had it been safe to do so, we would have been able to reach out and touch him. (Ref: factanimal.com)
Courage
Being within reach of this majestic creature, brought to life the symbol of lions as strength and courage. Drawing upon this analogy leads me back to another recent family trip to Nashville, TN. Since my 11-year-old son created the itinerary for this trip, he added a stop to see the QuaverEd headquarters because he had used the music platform during elementary school. As we drove to the building, he wanted to go inside but initially did not want to speak up on why he was there (He wanted me to speak for him). I encouraged him to introduce himself and let them know why he was visiting.
Unexpectedly, we received a personal back-end tour of the facility (by Carl Gelinas) and met the main character Quaver (Graham Hepburn). Graham, all dressed up as Quaver, made a video for us to send to my son’s previous music teacher. This was one of highlights of the trip, not only for all of us, but especially for my son!
His act of courage created a feeling of gratitude and lessons learned:
This was a great example for my son to learn about the courage to speak up, since you never know what wonderful surprise might await around the corner.
It was also great to see there are companies who keep the human element, especially within a digital organization, and are willing to step out of the box and go above and beyond what is needed. Thank you QuaverEd!
Personally, it reminded me of times when I managed to be courageous during my professional career. Each moment created better opportunities only realized retrospectively. As I start a new role, I will continue to stay courageous, step up, and create positive experiences for those around me.
We all have the lion (courage) inside even when it is not always as easy to use. As leaders, we should support the roar (voices to speak up) in a safe environment.