It is those reflective moments of life that matter. They grab and transport us to another place, another dimension of thought. They do not exist in a vacuum; however, they must be stimulated by social interaction. “I am my own teacher.” This I believe emphatically. That said: we learn from every external circumstance, external to the inner me, that is. Stifle communication and you do so at your peril. This is why our guides – our friends and family – are so necessary. They are concomitant with the people that we meet on a daily basis – the shopkeeper, the colleague at school or work and the person we sit beside on the bus or airplane. They all teach us something when engaging them in the discussion. That said, our world is dynamic and the art of dialogue is undergoing a change. Will the result be positive or negative, only time will give us the answer?
An observation: I was recently in a large public institution. The place was literally teeming with people. As I sat in the reception area, I could not help but remark that everyone, of course, was on the cell phone. A naïve thought came to me, “What was it like before the cell phone?” I remember growing up in the perceptual black — we got a television when I was six years old. This is an unfair comparison and too far back in time. What was it like in the ‘80s and ‘90s, then? There was Pokémon, (1) I was quickly reminded: all right.
What was before Pokémon and the cell phone? Are you ready for this – shocking? There was a conversation! As the great playwright, Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), reminds us, however, “She had lost the art of conversation but not, unfortunately, the power of speech.” What, therefore, is the skill of conversation? A conversation is created from carefully chosen words: “Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.” (1)
In your wildest imagination, you may think that it is an involved, contrived plot to “dummy down” (2) the population — a conspiracy of sorts to manipulate “We the people” into accepting our current social situation and our elected political leaders: the “good enough” syndrome. This is, I am sure, just fanciful.
All is not lost as more and more young people (and old people) are aware of the dangers of the dearth of dialogue and conversation in our society. There are restaurants that request that we leave our cell phone in a basket at the reception, and there are “Cell-phone-free Fridays.” Additionally, the newest social etiquette requires us to leave the cell phone off the table and even better, turn it off before we begin a conversation. (3) There is a force of gravity in life, I observe. A leveling tendency does exist to minimize excellence in our civilization. We are “browbeaten” by so, so much data and stimulation that it is easy to fall. Much like a waterfall becomes sculpted and shaped, we are the same. The secret is to be aware of the “beautiful you” and to never lose sight of your mission in life, especially in your reflective moments. The iconic J.R.R. Tolkien (4) leaves us with a thought from The Hobbit:
“Good Morning!” said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.
“What do you mean?” he said. “Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?”
“All of them at once,” said Bilbo. “And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain …
“Good morning!” he said at last. “We don’t want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water.” By this he meant that the conversation was at an end.
“What a lot of things you do use Good morning for!” said Gandalf. “Now you mean that you want to get rid of me, and that it won’t be good till I move off.”
A closing thought: I do believe that we must strive for excellence in our lives on a daily basis. This is much easier “said than done.” What I tell my students is to always try your best in every situation: try your best on a test, try your best in your relationships and try your very best to develop your great gifts – only you truly know what they are. This is advice that was given to me, by my grandfather, as a child and it still holds true today. Many of the broken, defeated eyes that we pass on the street have forgotten this counsel. I see my reality through my five senses. The sixth should access the cosmos. This is not imaginary but the truth of life and all of us know it.
To sum up: This week, we spoke about time, conversation and excellence. We noted that each of us controls our own destiny, though an effort is required.
A philosophical question: Why when you are full of trepidation does only the opposite happen? I recently lost my glasses and was blind, only to discover them on my head.
Just for fun, Oscar Peterson Piano Lesson , C Jam Blues
This week on your grand stroll, please enjoy your moments of thought.
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Quote: We must constantly be on guard against our slippage away from excellence.
Footnotes:
1) Yehuda Berg
2) dumb down