Peter Gabriel released his first full length album in almost 21 years. I’m a huge fan because his songs have a depth that address the human condition. His songs about mental health, relationships, society, etc are honest and real.
One of the songs on the new album, Love Can Heal is, according to Gabriel: “a dreamy, experiential piece with some abstract imagery, a carpet of sound, a tapestry where things are woven together, but not necessarily supposed to stick out, but just form part of a whole.”
Isn’t that what we all are? Now, I wouldn’t recommend putting this on your CV, but think about it, we are all part of a tapestry woven together and most of us don’t stick out, but we are all part of a whole.
According to Gabriel: ‘it sounds trite just to say ‘love can heal’, but I really believe that it is a key element and that when people feel interaction, warmth, giving, part of something alive and not isolated, that they’re much more likely to do well and be able to offer more themselves.”
I can’t agree more. It’s a simple idea, and maybe we should all ask ourselves why it is so difficult to attain, especially in a workplace environment. Isolation is the key here.
Creating a culture of wellbeing at work is not about singing Kumbaya, which I might add that the correlation between the lyrics and the modern day interpretation of the song title never really made sense to me. So I looked it up and found an older article When Did ‘Kumbaya’ Become Such A Bad Thing? which dissects the dismissive evolution of the song and according to another article “The song was originally an appeal to God to come and help those in need. In American politics, the song would later become part of a phrase (sing Kumbaya) denoting unrealistic, excessively optimistic compromises.”
I digress, but not really. Because perhaps Love Can Heal is the modern day Kumbaya. And is that such a bad thing? What are we all trying to accomplish anyway? Speaking personally, and I am sure I’m not alone, I want to do my job well, help others, provide for my family, and feel valued. That’s it. How we go about doing this is up to us. And, how we are able to do it at work should be no different. There are plenty of stories about successful businesses that have achieved a workplace culture that promotes productivity, value, collaboration. It is achievable. It just takes work.
So, to repeat, “when people feel interaction, warmth, giving, part of something alive and not isolated, that they’re much more likely to do well and be able to offer more themselves”. This applies to us all both personally and professionally.
Love Can Heal is a meditative song so give it a try.
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