Episode 15: Learning from Cobblestone Streets
Cobblestone streets – that is, small irregular rocks set in a mud mixture – are painstakingly repaired by hand in Antigua, Guatemala.
I stood and watched the pedreros, or maybe you know the term adoquinadores, carry on the tradition of previous pavers and stonemasons of preparing the earth, laying the stone, shaping as needed, pounding it down, and beginning again.
Stone after stone after stone, mile after mile. For centuries.
The patience is mind-numbing, the back-breaking labor exhausting, the dedication genuine.
Originally founded in 1524 as the capital, Santiago de Guatemala, Antigua boasts architectural feats and Spanish history built on top of an active earthquake zone, guaranteeing future destruction at this nearly mile high city – about 5000 feet.
Why? I asked myself.
Why build these beautiful buildings and maintain these lovely cobblestone streets on top of an active earthquake zone?
As if that wasn’t sufficient, fires, floods, volcanic eruptions, tremors, and an avalanche (not making this up) pummeled the city for years until finally someone had enough, and the capital moved to more stable ground. Wah-la: Guatemala City was born around 1773, making Antigua – aka Antique, or “old” city – a colonial vestige of good intentions, bad planning.
Yup, good intentions, but wow was that a bad idea.
How often do we do this?
Good intentions, but – maybe we didn’t think through the ramifications.
Maybe we were angry and lashed out.
Maybe we just “needed to get it done” and to heck with the consequences.
Maybe we were just tired and couldn’t think about it anymore.
Maybe we thought if we did nothing and ignored it, it might somehow go away.
And now here we are.
I don’t know a single person who doesn’t regret an action or inaction or comment.
Sometimes the consequences are hurtful, damaging, or even catastrophic to our relationships. Sometimes the outcome can be soothed with an apology or fixed with time.
Regardless, the vast majority of us want to “do this life thing” better.
We want to have a sense of contentment and contribution.
We want our families to be safe and well cared for.
We want to live in a society where people respect one another and show kindness.
Or said another way, we don’t want our foundation to be built on a severe earthquake zone prone to nature’s wrath.
And yet how often do we do this?
Recently I met an indigenous woman leader in Antigua over soda water and hummus. Her presence was both strong and unassuming, confident and approachable. She rushed into the café, a flurry of vibrant colored fabrics of blues and reds and yellows worn by indigenous women, swishing in the cool breeze, her black leather handbag reflecting the western culture in which she lives. She had just come from a regional meeting to discuss and persuade community members and leaders to take actions that would – or could – help.
She stopped, looked at me, and with a warm, infectious smile, patiently listened to my queries. She then poured out ideas rapidly in Spanish – one of several languages she speaks – her eyes bright, engaged, curious, passionate.
Together we explored how she could connect the women in her community with the women who will be coming on the ServantEDGE immersion experience to Guatemala this October.
I explained that we hoped this gathering of women would be a shared exchange, a time of shared listening and shared learning.
A moment when cultures and experiences join along a common thread of living as women in societies and workplaces that don’t always see them, that too often refuse to give credence to the intuition – that quiet, inner voice – we quickly bury.
A moment when we collectively recognize the balance of children and home and relationships and work and community muddle over any space to just, breathe.
You know, to pause.
Together.
To re-think. Re-connect. Re-new. Re-energize.
That sort of thing.
I ask you:
When was the last time you sat with an indigenous woman leader and had a conversation?
The power of this Guatemala living classroom – where women leaders and context and experience and culture and history collide together in a safe, shared space of learning and growing – this is when we start to gain perspective. This is when our questions shift. This is when we look at things differently.
And then we reflect together, talk – really talk, hearing one another, and sit.
This is when – yes – we are transformed.
Moments like this change people’s lives.
They allow us to check our foundations:
Are we building on top of an active earthquake zone?
Are we trying to construct our futures, our lives, our relationships, our careers where fires and floods and volcanos regularly erupt?
Have we been asking the wrong questions?
Wherever you are, right now, I invite you to step outside – even if the temperature is below zero – and look up at the sky. Smell the air. Feel the temperature. Listen to the sounds. Sense the spaciousness.
Imagine the possibilities if you give yourself the gift to take this pause each day, even just once.
Imagine the possibilities if you give yourself the gift to walk along Lake Chikabal with a Mayan leader, who takes your hand and looks up at the sky with you, together.
Reach out to us – support@theservantedge.com -- to get your name on the list now for Guatemala. October 24-31. Only 12 can go.
See you soon with our next discussion, and in the meantime:
Wherever you can today, build a bridge of compassion and understanding with someone—it’s when real results begin.
We are a single community, after all.
A former U.S. Diplomat, Stephanie Mikulasek is an executive coach, professional public speaker, host of international immersion experiences, and Managing Director of The ServantEDGE. Her career has taken her from Silicon Valley boardrooms to the mountains of Chile and the savannas of Africa, coaching and guiding leaders along the way. Drawing from decades of global leadership, academic scholarship, and immersive transformation work, Stephanie blends wisdom, wit, and depth to inspire leaders and teams to challenge the illusion of certainty, invite radical belonging, and rediscover what matters most. Connect with her on LinkedIn and at www.theservantedge.com