“If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows.”Â
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Waxing Moon
I’ve enjoyed watching the first sliver of the setting moon this week in the evenings, as first Jupiter, then the Pleiades, then Venus have emerged in the evening sky close to the waxing moon. I enjoyed these words from Chabad.org in my mailbox this morning:
What can we learn from the cycle of the moon, how she ever waxes and wanes and waxes again?
That a time of smallness is a time to become great;
And a time of greatness is a time to become small.
And greatness endures only through its power to be small.
Confident Ambiguity
Yet another in a series of posts on the notion of ambiguity. Last time I talked about the fact that navigating ambiguity is really a matter of maturity of our ability to think critically and solve problems.
As much as anything else, I suppose it’s a confidence thing. When we’re confident in our ability to think critically and gain understanding, we welcome opportunities to use those skills.
On the other hand, when we lack that confidence, we only want to face easy problems. For anything that requires real thinking and independent reasoning, we prefer to have someone tell us what it is we’re supposed to think.
I see it nearly every day in people I talk to. Have any discussion of politics, and you’ll immediately hear people spouting the “party line†and the propaganda from whatever brand of faux news they listen to. Challenge them a little – ask some hard questions – and most folks start to splutter and spit. They don’t feel confident in their ability to arrive at an independent opinion – they need their opinion shaped for them.
We all complain about how polarized our country has become over the past 30 years, with everyone becoming more extreme. In my opinion, that’s 100% a result of the kind of “news†programming people watch on TV or listen to on the radio. They plug themselves into a propaganda machine, and drink the Koolaid. I believe that if we all shut the media off and refused to allow ourselves to be the sheep they want, we’d find that we’re not nearly as polarized as we’re led to believe.
Give it a test drive. For 90 days, refuse to consume any “news†or opinion programming on radio or TV. Refuse to read the OpEd page. Just talk to people, and discuss what’s going on. Talk to people with new and different opinions than your own. After 90 days, I give you a money-back guarantee that you’ll find you are far less in lockstep with whatever brand of propaganda you consumed before.
Disclaimer: All opinions are those of the author. 🙂
Navigating Ambiguity
Ambiguity.
Every day we’re faced with it. Some of us deal with it well, some not so much.
A friend and I discussed this not long ago, after I started a series of postings on the subject. We both agreed that for most folks, we get better at dealing with ambiguity as we move through life.
Each step along most chosen paths in life presents problems – problems we learn to navigate through improving critical thinking skills. The better our critical thinking skills become, the better we are at moving through problem-solving mazes.
And at the end of the day, ambiguity is generally just one of those problem-solving mazes to navigate. When things seem gray or fuzzy, it’s generally not for a lack of information – quite the opposite. The more information we have, the more ambiguous a situation can often become. With strong analytical and critical thinking skills, we’re better able to navigate those mazes, and make peace and reason out of ambiguity.
It’s interesting to me to notice all the things about “aging†that are actually an advantage. I wrote recently about the art of aging finely, and I’m often surprised to find just how many things in life we get better at as we move along the timeline. Maybe all of us don’t get better, but we certainly have the opportunity to get better. Some just seize the opportunity better than others do.
Seize this one – look for those little moments of ambiguity that surround you, and explore them honestly.
Cycling Sandbaggers
Borrowed from a cycling discussion board:
Cyclists are notorious sandbaggers. They’ll say anything to soften you up for the kill.
Don’t let this happen to you. Study this handy rider’s phrasebook to find out what they really mean when they say:
“I’m out of shape.”
Translation: I ride 400 miles a week and haven’t missed a day since the Ford administration. I replace my 11-tooth cog more often than you wash your shorts. My body fat percentage is lower than your mortgage rate.
“I’m not into competition. I’m just riding to stay in shape.”
Translation: I will attack until you collapse in the gutter, babbling and whimpering. I will win the sprint if I have to force you into a pine tree. I will crest this hill first if I have to grab your seat post, and spray energy drink in your eyes.
“I’m on my beater bike.”
Translation: I had this baby custom-made in Tuscany using Titanium blessed by the Pope. I took it to a wind tunnel and it disappeared. It weighs less than a fart and costs more than a divorce.
“It’s not that hilly.”
Translation: This climb lasts longer than a presidential campaign. Be careful on the steep sections or you’ll fall over — backward. You have a 39×23 low gear? Here’s the name of my knee surgeon.
“This is a no-drop ride.”
Translation: I’ll need an article of your clothing for the search-and-rescue dogs.
“It’s not that far.”
Translation: Bring your passport.
Don’t Touch the Pastries
Peggy and I watched a young family with amusement the other day. The dad sat the girl down in a chair at our local Panera, with a plate of pastries in the middle of the table. He sternly admonished her, “Don’t touch anything on that plate yet.†He made sure she said yes, that she understood. Then dad went back to the counter, to help mom with the rest of the order.
He was only gone for a couple minutes, and the little girl never took her eyes off those delicious looking pastries. There was real longing in her eyes. After 10 or 15 seconds, she slowly reached her hands toward the plate that held the pastries, touched the edge of the plate with her fingertips, and quickly Continue reading “Don’t Touch the Pastries”
Finely Aged
I’m no connoisseur of wine or whiskey, but I’ve listened as connoisseurs talk of the value of “agingâ€. Some wines, for example, age very well, while others don’t.
It might be said that all wines start on an equal footing – fermenting from grape juice into wine. But grape genetics and the growing conditions have a big impact on what happens to the wine once the fermentation is done. Some are ready to drink right away, and can be quite good at a young age. They’re good their first year, and second and third maybe, and then they start to lose some of what makes them special.
Other wines benefit greatly from aging. They develop character and depth, a complexity that’s rare in wines that are young. These are the wines that are highly sought-after – those that age well and become better with each passing year.
We’re like that too.
Some of us peak at a young age, blooming best in the beauty and strength of youth. As the brief season of early bloom passes, it’s easy to look back on those days of youthful beauty and strength, longing for a return that’ll never come. It’s hard not to do this, bombarded as we are with media messages extolling the virtue, strength, and beauty of youth.
But when I look around me, I find a great many folks who defy the media message. They’re building greater strength with each passing year, a strength informed by wisdom, a strength of endurance, tolerance and perseverance. Continue reading “Finely Aged”
Cycling from Kansas to Annapolis
Later in 2012, I’m planning on completing the second half of my cycling pilgrimage across the US. I’ll start in eastern Kansas, crossing Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia. From there, I’m still working on the route, and would love some first-hand advice on whether to take a northern fork through Cumberland and then down into Annapolis from the north, (much like the RAAM route), or take it straight east and through the DC area.
For now, here’s the route that’s pretty well-defined:
- Eastern Kansas
- Kansas into Missouri
- Across Missouri
- Across Missouri
- Missouri into Illinois
- Across Illinois
- Illinois into Indiana
- Indiana into Ohio
- Across Ohio
- Ohio into West Virginia
- Across West Virginia
- East from West Virginia… TBD
The route uses the Katy Trail across Missouri, but other than that, stays on secondary highways for now.
The Depravity of Perfectionism
The Perfectionism Demon – Part 3
I’ve been writing about the perfectionism demon this week, and how counterproductive he (or she) is for most of us. I imagine many folks who imbibe in the creative process are haunted by this demon, and I suspect they only succeed when they find ways to trick, evade, or outrun the nasty fellow. Destroying him would be true joy, but I’m just not sure that’s possible once he’s dug his claws deeply into the way we live our life.
The demon plagues some folks with the inability to even start a project, for fear they won’t do well enough. I have a writing colleague like that, who struggles to move ideas from his mind to the keyboard for fear they won’t be good enough.
In my case, I’ve got enough dominance over the demon to start the creative process, but deeming a finished product “worthy†to be released to the world is a chain I’ve yet to wrap consistently around the beast. I can sit down to the keyboard and write, but I rarely think I’ve written something that’s “good enoughâ€. Continue reading “The Depravity of Perfectionism”
Perfectionism and Creativity
The Perfectionism Demon. Part 2
I talked in my last post about how the the demon of perfectionism can cripple everyday things like planning. The demon is far more vicious and unforgiving when it comes to the creative process.
I like to write. It’s a creative process for me. When I write, I’m releasing something from within myself for the rest of the world to read. Is it good enough? Does it really say what I want to say? Will I sound foolish? Continue reading “Perfectionism and Creativity”