Many physical items with which we interface regularly have diametric opposite extremes. Faucets have a handle for hot and a handle for cold. Batteries have positive and negative poles, and don’t work if installed backwards. Reading is dependent on contrasting bright and dark strokes between background and letters on a page or screen. Magnets demonstrate North and South poles. In the case of magnets, it’s interesting that if the magnet is broken in half, the poles N and S are preserved in each of the fragments.
No one lives their life at the North or South pole. These extremes are severe, and don’t support sustainable ecosystems.
Similarly, in our interactions and our pursuits as colleagues, partners, citizens, and family members, polar extremes in positions are harsh, and may run counter to sustainability, synergy or complementarity. We need each other. We have the opportunity to choose to move towards one another to put into action our growing appreciation for just how much we genuinely are dependent on one another.
