we seek desperately to be known and, in being known, to be understood somehow – this is our greatest need. In all of this, ultimately we seek simply to exist…to authenticate our existence simply by being acknowledged by the other. By another.

Each year on the fifth of November we watch V for Vendetta. We have been doing this now for many years.

We do this not only because the film is really very good but because it is increasingly (in our opinion) apt. The film is based on a famous graphic novel by Alan Moore written primarily between 1982-1985.

The content reminds one of George Orwell’s 1984 or Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and in some ways is a contemporary of works like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale published in 1985.

You see as 1984 approached people began to think about the novel by Orwell written in 1948 and how prescient it seemed to be. Moore wrote V as an Englishman living in the heart of Margaret Thatcher’s England and this no doubt influenced his work as well.

Questions were asked – what was a government and, more importantly, the people running it, willing to do to ensure continued authority and delivery of its policies, which, after all, were only for the good of the people.

Speaking of the people one is forced to ask what they were willing to give up in the face of authority and loud voices? How passive are people anyhow?

Just as Orwell was heavily influenced by the realities of WW2 and post-war England so Moore in influenced by Thatcherism, Conservatism and the Cold War era. What is a government willing to do TO its people in order to preserve its version of the people?

Scary questions no doubt.

So with V Moore enshrouds an idea with a character known as V and stylized after Guy Fawkes, a noted figure in British history who was arrested on Nov. 5 1605 for plotting to blow up the House of Lords.

Fawkes became a figure of rebellion against tyrannical government (although he was, in fact, anti-protestant and religiously motivated) and November 5 is known as Guy Fawkes Day in England.

The day has been celebrated practically every year since 1605. There is a reference to it in John Milton’s poem In Quintum Novembris (On the Fifth of November) written by the 17 year old in Latin in 1626 where he closes the poem with the words:

“in the whole year no day is celebrated more than the Fifth of November.“

The premise and standard celebration of Guy Fawkes Day has been to celebrate the capture and execution of a traitor to England and the crown. Bonfires are built and set ablaze into which are thrown Guy Fawkes dolls to be burned in effigy by children reciting a popular nursery rhyme (whose age eludes me) referred to as The Bonfire Cry.

The Bonfire Cry

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t’was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli’ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow;
By God’s providence he was catch’d (or by God’s mercy*)
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holla boys, Holla boys, let the bells ring.
Holla boys, holla boys, God save the King!
And what should we do with him? Burn him!

Over time there has grown a definite sense of irony in the historical root of the day as it has taken on more of a sense of almost celebration of Guy Fawkes and the idea of taking control of government, monarchy and the like.

In more recent history the decentralized, anarchist group Anonymous became known partly for their use of Guy Fawkes masks in their presentations focused on criticizing abusive aspects of government such as censorship and authoritarianism. In this instance the group is referencing Fawkes through the filter of V for Vendetta.

And so now we find ourselves on the eve of another November 5th, 415 years after the events of Guy Fawkes, more than 40 years since the publication of V for Vendetta and 15 years since the movie was released.

We find ourselves also on the eve of an American election critical to, and no doubt impactful upon, the future – not simply of the United States but the world.

Herein lies the point of this small piece.

Whether you have seen it before or not at all, consider finding and watching V for Vendetta on November 5th. Watch it and consider at the same time the world around you. Watch it through the filter of today and global affairs.

I would also encourage you to purchase the graphic novel and read it.

the old black death
it comes running
it comes riding
again and again
through the villages
and the great cities
trailing pride in its wake,
and everyone comes ’round
to lean in close
and admire their own bravery

while the devil watches them go
disciples each and every one
spreading pestilence like seeds
carried in a rotting sack
stitched of hubris and stupidity

It is interesting what one can learn about people on their team or in their management when one simply compliments another.

Take for instance the following scenario which happens regularly.

You are speaking with a co-worker or employee and you casually reference the strong performance of another person.

This is actually a good thing to practice. It is important that people know the attributes you value as a manager and/or leader. People pay attention to these sorts of comments.

Now people usually respond one of two ways – the first, most healthy response is to simply acknowledge your observation, perhaps echo it, but otherwise accept that you have given kudos to someone and then move on.

Sometimes however people respond differently. Sometimes people get very defensive at the mention of another employee or person’s stellar performance.

They may respond with little details about how you are not fully informed. They may point out that this other person is not really who you think they are and did not do nearly as much work as you give them credit for etc. etc.

This is usually a key sign of a person or employee with a fragile ego speaking out-of-turn about a co-worker as they seek to deflect or diminish your praise.

It is good to pay attention to these conversational cues because they provide good insight into the people around you.

Everyone needs to be praised from time to time. We all need to be acknowledged and lifted up. But in a team environment it is important that people can acknowledge others even if there is silence about their own efforts.

Silence does not mean judgement. If a person cannot accept others in the workspace being lauded this may be a sign that they struggle to be effective team members. If a person is so self-oriented that they cannot allow praise to be given to another without a defensive remark they may have difficulty working on a team without exercising a self-centered and fragile personality which can be destructive to such a space.

It should be noted that such comments usually only come out in one-on-one conversations as people are self-aware enough to hear what they sound like. If you notice that being in a crowd or group does not limit such commentary you can assume you are dealing with a person whose ego is so fragile they cannot keep silent and see such compliments paid to others as an injustice to themselves. This personality is likely toxic in a work (or any) environment.

It should also be noted that while this is a poor quality in an employee it is an absolute disaster in a leader and represents hubris which can be corrosive to an entire organization.

For terrible and personal reasons I have always been fascinated with the idea of “what might have been”.

Admittedly this is a concept that can become a little like the mirror of Erised in the Harry Potter series. One can waste away pondering what might have been.

In my version it is typically “who might I have become” or, more aptly, “what was stolen from me that has changed the fabric of who I am” etc.

This version of my ponderings are rooted in years of sexual abuse at the hands of numerous men when I was much, much younger.

More recently a new version has leapt into my consciousness and gnawed away at it. The idea of “who might I have become had I known my father”, and “who might I have become had I known my culture”?

My father was Jewish. I didn’t know this until my late 40s. It was a shocking and remarkable find through 23&Me DNA testing. I am happy I had the opportunity to talk to my mum about it before she passed away. I am happy I have had the opportunity of meeting two brothers I never knew I had as well as an uncle and nieces and step-sisters.

It is a very odd thing to me. My father having been Jewish means that it is the largest part of who I am genetically but I am devoid of experience except through my education in seminary which was obviously quite biased.

I cannot lay claim to a culture I never knew and yet it is responsible for half of me. I am not Jewish. Being Jewish is unlike any other culture in the world. It is a distinct people which is a distinct culture which is a distinct religion all bound up together in a messy and wonderful tripartite gem of humanity.

I love this about my heritage. I mourn for what I lost at not knowing my father. I yearn to better understand this absent part of me but to do so respectfully. I have not experienced anti-Semitism although I know with certainty my ancestors have.

I think about this. I think about the holocaust more than ever now because, given my heritage and my grandfather’s birthplace in western Russia (now Ukraine) many were likely obliterated at the hands of the  Einsatzgruppen or simply rounded up like the majority of Jews in Nazi occupied Russia.

So rises again the sad thought of not “what might have been” but “who might have been”. Cousins who should be but in the world and are not. So much loss.

My mother is another absence that is felt deeply and lends itself towards thoughts of what might have been.

These thoughts rattle about in my head along with yearnings to better understand the idea of loss and absence and what might have been but I am also reminded of a nice quote from the same source as the aforementioned mirror:

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.” — Albus Dumbledore regarding Harry’s discovery and subsequent fixation on the Mirror of Erised

PUSH back,
crash relentlessly
against each other,
and know,
you will find balance
in the midst of the pressure
in the contrary screaming
in the flying of fists
for there is no real peace
only a quiet, resentful, re-arming.

don’t close the mouths of the young
they are feeling in ways
they have yet to forget
and loving with a heat
that has yet to cool

they live
they are present
and we have left them
for a past that is fiction

leave them to their ways
and maybe learn

from my current vantage
i see first to the west
and next to the north
than comes south
and, with a twist, and a lean
there lies the east

i know the sun
it is brightest to my left
where the shadows
they lean in toward me
while darkest to my right
in front the claw hand
of an old pine branch beckons
and autumn dominates behind

i am the centre
of a needle free compass
pointing nowhere
looking everywhere