{"id":293,"date":"2019-03-11T20:37:22","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T20:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diversity.csl.org\/wpdev\/?p=293"},"modified":"2019-03-11T20:37:22","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T20:37:22","slug":"what-is-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csl.org\/diversity\/what-is-water\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Water?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction to Cultural Diversity<\/strong>
by Rev. C.Michael Woodstock<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo see what is in front of one\u2019s nose requires a constant struggle\u201d<\/em>
George Orwell <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Story of the Fish<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day as a group of young fish were swimming along they\nencountered an older fish swimming in the opposite direction. Passing by, the\nolder fish greeted them saying \u201cHello there; how\u2019s the water?\u201d After the\nyounger fish had gone some ways farther one of them piped up, \u201cWhat the heck is\nwater?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story is meant to illustrate that, just as fish don\u2019t\nsee water because it is so ubiquitous it is taken for granted, so too are we\nsurrounded and immersed in a context that is typically invisible to us<\/em>.\nWe live and breathe in a sea of assumptions that operate like default settings\nin a software program to govern our responses to our environment. We are\nconstantly making choices and responses throughout each day based on these\ndefault settings as we navigate our environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is Water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we acquire these default settings? From our\nearly childhood upbringing, schooling and socialization and ongoing\nrelationships with family, friends, neighbors and the rules, regulations and\nvalues of the community and society in which we live, written and unwritten,\nexplicit or implicit. In these and countless other ways we are getting feedback\nfrom our environment about how successfully we are meeting the expectations of\nour parents, teachers, and others in our community and society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another word for this is culture<\/strong>. It is the\nlearned behavior people acquire that makes it easier for them to know what to\nexpect from each other as they live, work, play, worship and engage in\ncountless other human activities together. It is the collective understanding\nof common sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or as Albert Einstein once famously put it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCulture is the collection of\nprejudices acquired by age eighteen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blink of an Eye<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of this is good or bad, per se.\nIt is how human beings are wired to quickly make decisions based on information\nstored in our subconscious (past training) plus minimal new information. In\nshort, we literally pre-judge in order to make rapid decisions. This has given\nus a distinct evolutionary advantage, AND it get us into trouble as Malcolm\nGladwell points out in his book, Blink:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Research] suggests\nthat what we think of as free will is largely an illusion: <\/em>
\n
\nMuch of the time, we are simply operating on automatic pilot, and the way we\nthink and act \u2013 and how well we think and act on the spur of the moment \u2013 are a\nlot more susceptible to outside influences than we realize. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer is that\nwe are not helpless in the face of our first impressions. They may bubble up\nfrom the unconscious – from behind a locked door inside of our brain.<\/em>
\n
\nBut just because something is outside of awareness doesn’t mean it’s outside of\ncontrol.”<\/em>
\n
\n<\/em>Though our biases are nearly automatic, we have the\nopportunity to change the patterns that have formed…
\n
\n… if we can become conscious of the water we have been swimming in.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

COMING UP – Does Unity mean\nUniformity?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next week, we’ll continue the series on Cultural\nDiversity.  The practical spiritual implications of this will be explored\nin Part II of this series, “Culture, Diversity and Inclusivity.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rev. C. Michael Woodstock is an\nordained minister of the United Centers for Spiritual Living and a graduate of\nthe Holmes Institute for Consciousness Studies with a M.A. in Consciousness\nStudies. He also holds a B.A. in Business Law, and Office Administration from\nMichigan State University. 
\n
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rev. C. Michael is a cultural diversity trainer and has\nfacilitated trainings both in the corporate world and in CSL. He is currently a\nmember of the CSL Diversity Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Rev. C.” as he is known to those working\nclosely with him, currently lives in Hercules, CA with his wife Robin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction to Cultural Diversityby Rev. C.Michael Woodstock \u201cTo see what is in front of one\u2019s nose requires a constant struggle\u201dGeorge Orwell Story of the Fish One day as a group of young fish were swimming along they encountered an older fish swimming in the opposite direction. Passing by, the older fish greeted them saying \u201cHello […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Water? - CSL Diversity Equity Inclusion Committee<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is Water? - CSL Diversity Equity Inclusion Committee\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Introduction to Cultural Diversityby Rev. 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