{"id":2273,"date":"2012-04-18T15:05:06","date_gmt":"2012-04-18T15:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/?p=2273"},"modified":"2012-04-18T15:05:06","modified_gmt":"2012-04-18T15:05:06","slug":"bonsai-people-in-a-bonsai-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/04\/18\/bonsai-people-in-a-bonsai-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Bonsai People in a Bonsai Culture?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"Bonsai = An ornamental tree or shrub grown in a pot and artificially prevented from reaching its normal size<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The bonsai is not a genetic variant but has within it the potential to become a fully grown tree. \u00a0However it is carefully cultivated to meet the demanding requirements of the gardener. \u00a0It is fed few nutrients, kept in shallow soil, not allowed to form deep roots, continually pruned and kept ‘in proportion’; shaped to the precise requirements of the gardener\u00a0and the specifications of their profession.<\/p>\n

Bonsai People<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bonsai people have had their development limited, distorted and shaped by the influence of their\u00a0environment\u00a0rather more than it has been driven by their own potential and aspirations. \u00a0To an extent we are all Bonsai People. \u00a0But some people have been more bonsaid than others.<\/p>\n

And some seem to be very content with their bonsai nature. \u00a0While others are frustrated at the sensation that there must be something\u00a0more\u00a0in them than this.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I was on the phone with Rich Huxley and we were talking about developing musicians. I told him of a mentor in Leeds who had boasted to me about how they had worked with a 14 year old boy whose ambition was ‘to be the best bass guitarist in the world’ and had managed to get them to\u00a0realise\u00a0just what a\u00a0preposterous\u00a0and\u00a0unlikely\u00a0goal this was. \u00a0Instead he persuaded the lad that 5 grades A-C was a much more achievable and better ambition.<\/p>\n

One of my own daughters was told while studying for GCSEs that she should play less netball and see less of her boyfriend in order to study more as she had the chance to get ‘straight As’. \u00a0This of course had much more to do with a teacher and a school under a hard performance management regime than it did the ‘spiritual, mental and physical development’ of my daughter!<\/p>\n

I was encouraged to pursue my abilities in maths, physics and biology on the grounds that they were ‘the future’ rather than my then interests in community work, punk and ecology. \u00a0Funnily enough community, music and sustainability have proven life-long passions. \u00a0Maths? Not so much.<\/p>\n

Young people are encouraged in all sorts of ways to drop art, music, drama and so on, in pursuit of ‘more academic’ subjects. \u00a0 If you are going to spend 39k a year on a degree then you had better make sure it has a job at the end of it etc. \u00a0 It is as if the sole purpose of education is to get as many employer brownie points as possible. \u00a0To produce the perfect Bonsai rather than nurture potential and passion.<\/p>\n

We might as well put education in the UK into the hands of the Department for Business for heaven’s sake….<\/p>\n

And I have worked with lots of\u00a0professionals, who tell me that they are ‘not in the right job’, that ‘this is not really me’. \u00a0Most were offered ‘training’ (usually in\u00a0accountancy, management or some other commercial discipline) that would be good for\u00a0their career. \u00a0They might not have been enthusiastic, but never look a gift horse in the mouth etc. \u00a0Before they know it they are in\u00a0finance\u00a0department earning decent money trapped in job that is just not them. \u00a0They are bonsai of themselves.<\/p>\n

Sound familiar?<\/p>\n

There\u00a0is\u00a0a massive\u00a0difference\u00a0between schooling<\/strong><\/em> – training to conform and meet someone\u00a0elses\u00a0specification and educating<\/strong><\/em> – drawing out and developing potential, exploring and nurturing individuality. \u00a0Much of what we today call education is really little more than schooling.<\/p>\n

Living in A Bonsai Culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Could we be living in a\u00a0predominantly\u00a0bonsai culture, where relatively few people are deeply interested in the\u00a0potential\u00a0of\u00a0themselves, never mind their neighbours. \u00a0What passes for a culture of self-improvement now largely focuses on enhancing abs, pecs, other bits of the anatomy and ‘style’ rather than the continual development of character, personality and ‘self’. \u00a0The main pre-occupation is less ‘what might I become?’ than ‘how can I fit in’ or ‘how can I get by?’<\/p>\n

Or instead of focussing on potential we focus on what we are told are ‘flaws’.\u00a0Corrections of\u00a0perceived\u00a0‘abnormalities’ rather than a genuine exploration of potential and individuality.<\/p>\n

Escaping the Bonsai Culture…<\/strong><\/p>\n

…seems like an almost impossible ask. \u00a0Once you start looking the tools of the bonsai\u00a0gardener\u00a0are everywhere, in the media, adverts, politicians manifestos indeed just about every external stimulus that we are exposed to is designed to influence us, to shape us to persuade us in some direction. \u00a0Even this post…<\/p>\n

But we can choose to:<\/p>\n