Shalom My Friends

Went for a walk with my girls at a local wildlife sanctuary called Shalom a little while back, and I grabbed some photos while we were there. I was sitting on this blog for a few weeks, and after a long week of watching a number of my friends deal with the stress of trying to find club volleyball teams for their daughters to play on while other friends try to make these teams from groups of individuals and parents, it felt right to write.

Shalom is a Hebrew greeting meaning "Peace" or "Harmony" according to the Oxford Dictionary. Apparently the Oxford folks got the definition of Shalom correct. Having been burned by the Yiddish meaning of the word "Schmuck" once after using it in a discussion with a Jewish friend who kindly enlightened me, I learned to verify with multiple sources before attempting to use a word from another culture or religion of which I have very little knowledge. I therefore triple checked to make sure Oxford was correct on Shalom.

What struck me about Shalom Sanctuary was how well they communicated their values. Start to finish pulling in to leaving, there was no doubt about what they believed, and how they planned to share the meaning of their name. Here is a link to their site if you care to explore or you happen to be in West Bend Wisconsin in the future and decide to visit; Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Shalom sanctuary is nestled in a rural area, well off the freeway in southeastern Wisconsin. It has gorgeous paths through a beautiful wooded forest, surrounded by large open roaming areas for unique wildlife. Herds of endangered albino deer, elk, white tail, buffalo, camels, and more roam in an open format like Jurassic Park without the computer generated terror. The interaction with the wildlife there involves viewing and feeding the animals as you casually stroll around the several mile trail. You purchase stale corn in a large white bucket, and must earn the trust of the hoofed creatures roaming the pastures to get to feed them up close. It's kinda like the brilliant family dog who hears the freezer open and comes running to greet the 3 year old. The dog knows he is going to get his ears tugged and some weird looks, but he likes his odds that he will get to lick the ice cream cone before it hurts. There was a very tranquil silence as we walked through the woods, and the animals went about their ways in a relaxed and peaceful pace.

Shalom had signs placed throughout the trail, and one in particular caught my eye and made me stop for the photo above.

Ego vs Eco

I immediately began to think of all the successful people I have been blessed to meet, all the successful families that pop in and out of my life, all of the successful businesses I've seen or been a part of, and of course sports teams I've watched or been a part of. My head went to teams I've coached where the entire season was spent trying to obtain Eco together, and eliminate Ego. I could substitute people in place of the animals in the Ego image, and pretty well sum up most of the BS happening in the world these days. It felt relatively obvious, and yet most days, it's difficult to see the forest through the trees.

As I watched my girls bound to the next herbivore and prayed they wouldn't get hoof and mouth disease or trampled by an elk who realized the chicken wire can't stop a chicken, I took pleasure in knowing that there are signs like this in our everyday lives telling us to stop and think about what our needs or wants do to others. Many are not as blatant as this, and might show up in the form of someone helping you unexpectedly or achievements you can look back on where a teams needs took precedence above your own wants, and something special was achieved. I kept thinking about the times people did things for my daughters they didn't have to, and were completely selfless.

I wondered how best to communicate this concept to my girls, and make sure they grew up to see the value in Eco over Ego, not in the hug a tree eat grape nuts and granola sense, but in a little more complete picture on the effect we have on other people. I'm pretty sure I'll screw this one up, but I now know I can take my kids to a cool wildlife sanctuary, buy them a bucket of corn and make them read the sign every time we go there...at least until the elk figure out the mother load of corn is on the other side of the chicken wire that can't stop a chicken.

Cheers to kicking over whatever chicken wire might be holding us back from seeing the signs

Enjoy!

bvd