Our family recently spent a wonderful 5 days camping at Cape Vidal. We divided our time between the beach and the game reserve and it was fantastic to unplug after a busy term. Scattered around the campsite we saw signs reminding us that we were in a game reserve and warning of the dangers of running into hippos, elephants, leopards etc. We took those with a pinch of salt, but were jolted back to reality when, on the first night, a hyena shouted loudly at us from directly outside our tent. In a moment, all five of us were huddled together in the middle of the tent ...
What happens next depends on temperament doesn't it? There is a small but real risk that a hyena may confront a human. How much weight does one give to that? Some people are wired to disregard the risk
altogether, others may sit up all night worrying about it.
We need people who are risk-takers - they explore new lands, challenge long-standing conventions and open up new possibilities. We also need people who are more cautious. I heard about an experiment apparently conducted with a troop of monkeys, where scientists removed all the anxious or edgy monkeys from the troop for a period of several months. To their shock, when they returned to the troop at the end of the period - it was gone - none of the remaining monkeys had survived! It seems that while we do need bold pioneers, we also need those who can foresee worst-case scenarios - they keep us alive!
What is important though is that we manage our anxiety sensibly, or else that helpful warning system can become toxic. Our community has been through such trauma in the last few years that it became difficult to accurately assess the risks that we were facing. In such times, it is a gift to be in community and to find some balance in the diverse temperaments around us.
As for our family's camping experience, it ended well - we all managed to get back to sleep and we saw very little of the hyenas for the rest of our time there. And we never laid eyes on the campsite's resident
leopard ...
What happens next depends on temperament doesn't it? There is a small but real risk that a hyena may confront a human. How much weight does one give to that? Some people are wired to disregard the risk
altogether, others may sit up all night worrying about it.
We need people who are risk-takers - they explore new lands, challenge long-standing conventions and open up new possibilities. We also need people who are more cautious. I heard about an experiment apparently conducted with a troop of monkeys, where scientists removed all the anxious or edgy monkeys from the troop for a period of several months. To their shock, when they returned to the troop at the end of the period - it was gone - none of the remaining monkeys had survived! It seems that while we do need bold pioneers, we also need those who can foresee worst-case scenarios - they keep us alive!
What is important though is that we manage our anxiety sensibly, or else that helpful warning system can become toxic. Our community has been through such trauma in the last few years that it became difficult to accurately assess the risks that we were facing. In such times, it is a gift to be in community and to find some balance in the diverse temperaments around us.
As for our family's camping experience, it ended well - we all managed to get back to sleep and we saw very little of the hyenas for the rest of our time there. And we never laid eyes on the campsite's resident
leopard ...