We can also turn to much more focused efforts at preservation of a natural state. Many of the zoos around the world are now in the business of preserving specific species from extinction. The Atlanta Zoo, like many others, goes even further by asking the general public to assist with the preservation. For instance, a visitor to this zoo can insert a credit card in a display adjacent to the gorilla exhibit that transfers money to an organization in Africa that is fighting to preserve the existing wild habitats of the gorilla. At an even more dramatic and potentially human-preservation level is the Svalbard project in Norway, where seeds from throughout the world are being stored and preserved in sub-freezing temperatures to ensure that humankind will always have access to the plants needed for our survival.
Among our Sage leaders we find several striking examples of dedicated women and men who seek to preserve the natural beauty and heritage of the resplendent environment in which Nevada County California is located (called “the gold country” and situated in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains). One of our Emerging Sage leaders grew up in Nevada County and returned to it twenty years later to become Executive Director of the South Yuba River Citizen’s League (SYRCL). He had previously worked for a conservation corps in the San Francisco Bay Area, but found the prospect of leading a major project back home to be more enticing. In his role as Executive Director, he focused on building a coalition rather than going it alone in preserving the Yuba River region: “[I am particularly proud of] our partnership with the largest aggregate company in the United States, which is located on the river. What’s been so rewarding is the unorthodox partnerships that we have created for the common community good.”
The Executive Director is pleased with the work his organization has done and acknowledges the successful role played by another organization:
“There are at least three dozen places in the Sierras that will remain as they are today in perpetuity, because either South Yuba River Citizen’s League or the Sierra Fund made this happen. I very much enjoy knowing that my kids are going to be able to go to Purden Crossing, or Spencerville Wildlife Preserve, or Donner Pass, or Bald Mountain, or the Truckee River, or any of these other projects for which I provided leadership. This makes me very happy.”
While we can marvel at the ambition and sometimes success of the aforementioned preservation projects, we are also able to appreciate the smaller and more immediate acts of preservation. As a professional coach, we can encourage our clients to identify moments of preservation in their own life. Examples include rescuing abused dogs or “rescuing” old furniture from an antique shop and restoring it to its former beauty. We even find ambitious men and women who rescue and restore homes. While some of these acts of restoration and preservation are motivated primary by potential financial rewards (“flipping homes”), a great deal of pleasure can be derived from taking pride in the restored object. At a more modest level we find the pull toward preservation in our repainting our bedroom or paying for the restoration of a cherished dining room table where our family has convened for several generations. We live on through our preservation. We “preserve” ourselves, while preserving object. This is a theme that a professional coach might reiterate in their Generativity Three work with a client.
Displaying
A third form of Generativity Three involves not just preserving something; it is about also allowing other people to see the preserved object. The observation might be visual in nature, such as appreciating a work of art or beautiful photography. It might also be an aural form of observation. Music is usually about something that has already been created. Generativity Three is particularly in operation when the music being played comes from the distant past. Classical music comes immediately to mind, but we can also turn to popular music of the early and mid-20th Century.
