Tag Archives: SCARS
Why do we need wars?
Words taken from daily headlines certainly paint a sensual, harsh reality of war: “hostage slain,” “deadliest month,” “terror in the streets,” “stress disorders,” “war toll a horrific cost,” “airstrikes and bombs,” “deadly clashes,” “bloodshed,” and “prisons.” And a recorded history of 15,000 global wars, in 5000 plus years, and counting, seems to imply that the pain and suffering of war continues and will continue. As a fan of the NBC television show “Dancing With The Stars,” it has been quite moving to watch double amputee-left arm and left leg-Noah Galloway and his professional dancing partner Sharna Burgess perform. Noah is a storied Iraq combat hero and shining physical and mental example of the freedom, with proper support, that can rest beyond acceptance of the trauma of war. The question lingers: Why do we need such pain, trauma and scars to connect with life as it is intended to be?
When New York Times best-selling author Ellen Tanner Marsh reviewed Sitting in the Flames, she wrote, “In clear, heartfelt prose, DeVore describes a brave and unflinching confrontation with his past, made necessary in order for him to have a more meaningful future. War, he realized, isn’t just one man’s experience-it’s the sum total experience of an entire country. To stop wars, he argues, we must understand them and why we need them.”
As Noah Galloway can attest, transformation of combat trauma demands that one begin to become aware, understand and accept personal suffering. My Vietnam War experiences were buried for 32 years. Until support arrived to facilitate becoming aware of stuffed fear, sitting with it, reflecting on it and accepting it, the artist within was deluded and not free to create life where peace of mind, purpose and connection with each moment reside.
My intuition is offering that personal pain and suffering, our Vietnam wars, can be transformed to positive energy that can be used to model the way as a person, in relationships and when helping others. The only requirement is to sit in silence and solitude, listen to our “inner roommate” and be open to the messages we receive. If we each take this one step at a time-sit in the flames of personal Vietnam wars-the sum total experience of an entire country can begin to be healed, too. As persons, if we continue to recycle personal wars, cultures will continue to have collective trauma and wars will continue to be reality and add to the growing number of conflicts as the years pass.
Welcome to my world; and to the life of a work-in-process “experience junkie” making a trek from “trained killer” to “spiritual warrior,” where peace of mind, creativity and joy have been tasted and celebrated.
Born and raised in Northwestern Ohio farm country, my hometown was Sherwood, population 500. Life as a kid found me sweeping the floor and waiting on customers in the family owned hardware store.
As a student of life, the perfectionist tendencies have been obsessed with the process of education: Defiance High School accolades; humbled by joining the Long Gray Line as a graduate of West Point; and followed by 10 years of graduate academics, the study of meditation, the wisdom traditions, golf management and golf teaching.
As a soldier my assignments included two years of combat during the Vietnam War as an advisor, rifle company commander and infantry battalion operations officer. In 1970, I was honorably discharged and will always be proud of my decorations and service to our country.
Following military service I spent a 27-year tour of duty with corporate America in a variety of leadership positions and as a consultant. Working twenty-one years for the Coors Brewing Company was the highlight of my civilian career. Following retirement in 1993, the search for a new beginning found me as ranch hand, human resources executive for a ski and golf company and carpenter for my son’s construction company. Retirement continues to unfold: fine tuning the golf game, learning to play the piano and publishing two books, Sitting in the Flames: Uncovering the Fearlessness to Help Others and Golfer’s Palette: Preparing for Peak Performance.
My family has always offered light posts for my journey. As a spouse, “popps” for three delightful kids and grandpa for six grandkids, who offer a constant supply of seeds for spiritual vitality, the challenge is to have my soil ready to receive them. Today, an “ah ha” is that connection is the key to uncovering the artist that rests within. We each have personal challenges and my learning is that going to breath, quieting the mind and connecting with moment-to-moment choices unleashes the creative spirit to carve the life visualized and dreamed. Our scars tell us where we have been, they do not dictate where we intend to go.