KNOWING OUR SELF
Thursday Nov. 16, 2017
I came across a talk about Charles Schulz (creator of Charlie Brown/Snoopy), about his self-reflection and disappointment after his illustrious career as artist and story teller, that he wasn’t an Andre Wyeth.
Fascinating – which is not to say Wyeth wasn’t a great painter, because he was. Amazing that Schulz would see himself, notwithstanding his prodigious career, the revered personification of Charlie Brown, saw himself a dim light compared to Wyeth. Like gold being disappointed it wasn’t platinum.
At different stages of life we approach problems with zeal but without perspective; and it isn’t that I don’t care about the challenges of 20-somethings, or 30-somethings, working their way through their difficulties of careers, relationships and finding purpose in their lives – I’m distracted but my own reality, my own future, my own struggles. I’ve been reading and listening to some new perspectives on ‘how we see ourselves’ – I’ll report back from time to time on how that trip is going.
Transition from how things have been to how things might be – enormous moving of mountains. OK, mountains in our mind, hills in our convictions, valleys in our low points and massive highway construction of life’s road built without road signs. No map. Shifts, big ones, we choose to make are like arriving at a new cliff, wondering if we can leap, wondering if we can soar – and most important, wondering if we can summon courage for the leap. New careers, new businesses, new relationships – each made of such leaps.
We don’t know how well or far we can fly until we leap.
We might crash, but we’ll have known what it was to leap.
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Having a discussion about this with my beau up in Edmonton this very evening. We are both looking for copies of 'Opening Up'. Ever heard of it? Might help contextualize your recognition of the paradox you describe, JB, Calgary, AB
