Trackers PDX Blog

Competency vs Kindness

9th

July

Competent or kind? What type of people make a community thrive? Question I often hear in my personal village.

How many of us can parallel park a 35 foot trailer with a 32 foot skin on frame boat on it, organize the logistics to feed 30, 60 or 200 people, shoot an arrow straight and true, get a stuck vehicle out of the mud on a flooded bush road in Botswana, code a new piece of software that helps people communicate in radically new ways, use their leatherman to repair a broken walkie talkie or track a cougar, finally catching a glimpse of that elusive cat? All these things were accomplished by colleagues of mine in just the past 3 weeks. Maybe by coincidence, I find all these folks to be very kind.

Yet this is not always the case for competency. I learned a long time ago that mastery does not always mean nice. Around the world, some of the best trackers, survival skills experts, martial artists, primitive skills masters, herbalists, writers, artists, pundits, scientists, designers, permaculturists, engineers and especially educators can act like "A-class" jerks. Experts stale in the knowledge that no one does it as good or great as them. As an eclectic teenager, I grew up revering nearly any and all competence. In my older age, I have rethought this ardent reverence for such salty dogs.

It took me awhile to realize there are two paths to competency. One stems from insisting that a study, art or philosophy is more important than even the people and land around us. Enhancing science, style or reputation becomes the ultimate motivation. This awareness can cloister you from the living world. And in the long run, leave the "expert" old, sad and lonely.

The other "competent" is borne from compassion. Empathy transmutes to vigilance for tending land, family and the village. The point of knowing is not simply for knowledge itself, but instead its a choice to place your gifts in service to the greater whole. Individuals competent in this way rarely refer to themselves as geniuses or masters, yet their regard and attention for their work can always be relied upon.

The same can be said about there being two ways of "kind". By our culture's definition "nice and good" is equated with syrupy words, universal harmony, right emotions and world peace. Yet becoming truly useful often requires giving of yourself, courage, sacrifice, personal risk, confusion, standing stalwart through conflict, doing hard work, challenging the status quo, setting healthy boundaries and focusing your attention. Real kindness, real care for your community and fellows is rarely the easy or perfect way out.

There's really not difference between competency and kindness. They're one choice. The value of competency derives from the attentiveness and passion found through kindness. And the village thrives by this regard and care.

Class roll...

July 18-19 Make our own 10th century german shoes Yes, they look like Dungeons and Dragons garb. And yes, they're probably the most comfortable and durable pairs of shoes you will ever wear.
Learn more and register

November 6-16 Build a Kayak Lash and peg your own traditional sea kayak together. The same design used in Arctic waters for thousands of year.
Learn more and register

Teaser for upcoming TrackersTEAMS Immersion program...

Winter 2009 3 month seasonal program
• Winter and the Water People: a boat building apprenticeship and Taoist martial arts
• Spring and Earth People: permaculture and medicinal and edible plants apprenticeship and yoga
• Summer and the Fire People: rites of passage, expeditions across Cascadia, and hand to hand combat;)
• Fall and the Wind People: tracking, ecology and survival apprenticeship and stealth skills
Each program can be enrolled in individually to make a 3 month program or together as a 6-month, 9-month or 12-month program. Contact Tony to learn more
Watch our website: Launch date August 1, 2009

Fall 2010 Master degree program through Prescott College
• Do TrackersTEAMS and get your masters through Prescott College
• Class takes place at our 400 acre cabin in Sandy, Oregon with overnights in one of the most beautiful places on the planet
• Elective options such as Permaculture Design, Wildlife Research in Africa and Boat Building let you design your own course of study
Inquiries only to Trackers up until September 1, 2009. Contact Tony to learn more.
Watch our website Launch date September 1, 2009

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