Tag Archives: courage

Maine Life, Personal Growth

The Last Human Freedom

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“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

 Viktor E. Frankl

I’ve had this quote sitting in my “hold” file for quite some time because I thought I wanted to decide whether I loved it or hated it. The dilemma piqued my interest enough to do some research… and that research revealed that Viktor Frankl was, in fact, a concentration camp survivor. His work (along with that of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche) in psychiatry also served as the basis for “existential therapy.” That’s a topic way too deep for a snowy Wednesday afternoon. If you’re feeling particularly heady, you might do some “googling” and learn a little about this interesting man.

When I did, I discovered yet a recommendation he made. He’s attributed with suggesting that the Statute of Liberty on the East Coast of our country should be complemented by a Statute of Responsibility on the West Coast. That’s a pretty good topic for consideration on any sort of afternoon.

I also have decided that, like having two statutes, I can both hate and love the quote. What I “hate” about it is that it’s a stark reminder of the horrible potential that exists in human beings. What I love about the quote is it’s a stark reminder of the potential for positive power that exists in human beings.

snowman_pointing_pc_400_clr_4412There was a time when we spent many hours in college classes (and after) considering these things. I do miss those times and am a little sad that I’ve not had an intense philosophical discussion in a long time. But on a snowy afternoon in Maine as I consider these heady concepts I find myself tempted to just go outside and make two snowmen. (A first grader gave me his drawing of “Frosty” yesterday I could use as a model. I chuckled at his lack of hesitation and amount of detail provided when I asked him who the snowman was.) Perhaps we should all build a “Frosty of Liberty” and a “Frosty of Responsibility.” In my snowy world, they are both the same size and they can, in fact, coexist.

Classes and Courses, Learning, Personal Growth

The Enemy Called “Good”

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“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically – to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside. The enemy of the ‘best’ is often the ‘good.’”

– Dr. Stephen Covey

This quote appeared in my inbox this morning as a “thought starter.” How appropriate to start the day thinking about priorities! There are two very important thoughts in these few sentences.

The idea of being almost obsessive with our priorities is not, of course, new. Tom Peters coined a descriptive term some years ago–a “monomaniac with a mission.” In just a few words we see the accomplishment value of one person with one mission. We’ve all seen it in action. You get one person who has real passion and purpose, get her focused and there’s really no stopping her. These people become the heroes of our society–assuming, of course, their mission is positive!

The second thought in this quote is the idea that the enemy of “best” is often “good.” How many times have we found ourselves saying something is “good enough” or “close enough?” In Maine we have a rather colorful expression to describe it.

“A blind man on a galloping horse will never notice…”

I suppose it creates perspective. But at the same time it’s really saying “that’s pretty bad. The only person who won’t notice is blind and going by pretty fast.”

While any project or passion requires practicality, we really ought to guard against the “good enough” mentality because Covey is right. Good can be the enemy of best.

Occasionally I’ll encounter an adult student who seems to merit a nickname and some gentle teasing at the start of class. “And how is my little overachiever today?” But that student knows it’s not such a bad label and it’s a bit unfortunate that our system implies over-achievers are placing too much stress on themselves. There is a balance in all of this, but I’ll take a class of over-achievers before a class of “how can I squeak by” students any day.

So we need to think about our “yes’s” and our “no’s.” And we need to be careful when we start saying “yes” to good because it might mean we are saying “no” to our best.

Personal Growth, Writing Skills

NaNoWriMo 2011

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Writing with a broken pencil is…

pointless!

Somewhere along the way I learned that no writing is pointless. I would give a good deal of credit for that to College Professor William Bailey who required every student to keep a daily journal. One sentence per day was the minimum and we were told not to worry about grammar and spelling. He wasn’t going to collect and grade it anyway. I suppose  this would seem pointless, but his objective was to get us used to writing and make writing a somewhat natural activity.

Perhaps the creators of NaNoWriMo were in Professor Bailey’s class. They are sponsoring “thirty days of literary abandon.” In short, participants are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in one month (November).  That’s an average of 1667 words per day.  Last year 200,000 tried–30,000 succeeded.

And, no, I don’t think any of the 30,000 made the New York Times Best Seller’s List. That’s actually not the point. As the creators of this effort say,

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

How can you not love that? You write a lot of “crap,” but when it’s over you get to call yourself a novelist.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that last year 1800 K-12 schools participated and not surprised to discover that some participants actually have had their work published.

No, I probably will not be participating this year. But I do love the concept–and note that this doesn’t just apply to writing. Sometimes you just get started “valuing perseverance and enthusiasm over the craft.”

The word for the day is “intensity” and the question is “What could you accomplish in thirty days if you had it?”