What's In Your Hood?

By Roger Desmarias:

When we think of "Hood," we usually do not reflect on the quality or mea of the particular “Hood” we inhabit: "childhood" is too far removed in the past, “adulthood" is usually our current vantage point, but "Elderhood" is not yet an existential reality in our living. “Parenthood” is a strong con in most lives and seems to create much of our meaning in life without much focus on the next and final "Hood," namely "Elderhood." The wisdom line is to live your fullest in your "Hood" so as to evolve into the next "Hood" with some age, wisdom, and grace. There is not much wisdom shared about how to enter into Elderhood, and there are conflicting ideas about what’s in the next "Hood"—as in an "After-Elder-Hood." Transcendental Hood?

The drive to advance in ‘age, wisdom, and grace’
 Similar to the DNA nature of salmon swimming up-stream

Conquering each new challenge of waterfall and rapid,
 To arrive at the last stage of the spawning drive
 Wiser and a bit battered, older and stronger, alive and ready

Prepared by genetics to rest in the last deep pool
 Creating next generations with enhanced knowledge and drive

To commit years in life’s ocean in preparation for the final ’run’

An intuitive commitment that knows what to do in the deep pool

An intuitive understanding of each new ‘neighborhood’ of growth

Prepared ineluctably to move to the next stage with knowledge

Wisdom gleaned from the past, focused on the next best "Hood"

From fingerling to adolescent to adult to elder-hood.

Salmon know what many do not know: how to move upstream

Through the rapids of life and the pools of growth
 To finally appreciate the final "Pool-Hood" in the river of life

Having braved and conquered the flow of the river

But moving beyond the old flow into the new quiet of spawning

Of bringing together all the wisdom of the river
 To maximize and love the final quiet deep pool of "Elderhood"

Without reversing the process and face downstream

To conquer again an old waterfall or the latest rapid
 To feel the old energy and power against the old flow -
 But rather to face the challenge of the darkness of the pool

To find menaing in the dark end waters of unknown depths

To spawn wisdom in the quiet at the end of the drive upstream.

The evolution of the stages of “Hood-ism” ends in knowledge

The meaning of the final “Pool-hood” seems clear to the salmon

It is not so clear to the future of homo sapiens
 Salmon resist any instinct of returning downstream

Many elderly continue to want to return to old energies

Many in "Elder-hood” want to revisit old senses of self
 Many at the end of life want to return to the fountain of youth

Many people feel unprepared for the final ‘pool’ of living

Many individuals would rather not evolve to the next "Hood."

The skills of swimming upstream through ‘Salmon-hoods”

Through challenges of the various personalities of rivers

Are not needed: there are no rapids or waterfalls in the “Pool.”

Yet, the salon know how to forget past river currents of life

Know how to give up attachment to old skills of ‘Swimming-Doing"

As in the productivity of conquering and succeeding

Learn how to move in rhythm to the final “Hood” of “Being”

As in the quiet mystery of letting go and accepting the “Hood."

Dr. Roger Desmarais has written poetry on his experiences as a consultant to executives and their executive teams as a way to more easily connect with the Emotional Intelligent part of the total leader. This has also opened the opportunity to write poetry to define the Spiritual Intelligence that is the foundation for Ethical and Responsible Leadership—which is a growing request. His recently published book of corporate poetry taps the three intelligences: Intellectual, Spiritual, and Emotional: “Disruptive Poetry: Upsetting the Perfect Corporate Status Quo.”