by Marty Coleman | Jun 4, 2010 | Confucius, Memory - 2010, The Philosophers - 2010 |
The ancient philosopher of day #3 is Confucius. Thanks to Julie Chin, former meteorologist from KJRH, channel 2 in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the suggestion via twitter.
Forgetting and remembering are two edges of a sword. To forget cuts away the bombed out landscape of wrongs from our past. That can be very good. To remember allows us to avoid the ‘wrong bombs’ in the future. That can be very good. So, which is it to be? How do we grow in wisdom and intelligence so as to be protected while not being consumed with bitterness and anger over the past?
I see the difference being in one’s focus. As I have mentioned before, when I was 18 I was blown up and burned in a boat explosion. It was due to overflowing gas. I can tell the story passionately but I don’t retain bitterness or anger about it. But put me in a gas station with some idiot smoking a cigarette and you can be damn well sure I will say something. My remembrance isn’t used to resurrect my pain or what I lost, it’s there so I can do something in the here and now to help avoid similar pain for others.
When I think of the best current example of that I think of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. They asked people to come forth and tell their painful stories of the apartheid era. They didn’t want the stories told to bring about vengeance but to bring about healing. Remembering was a way of saying it wasn’t nothing, it did matter. But they were also saying it is remembered so we can help all of our futures, not so we can condemn and fight each other.
What part of your past are you holding onto with bitterness and anger? Let go of that memory and turn the focus to adding it to your collected wisdom of life. Forget the pain, remember the gain. That is how you will create a healthier and safer future for you and yours.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.” – Confucius (Kong Qiu – 孔丘), 551BCE – 479BCE, Chinese philosopher
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 3, 2010 | Heraclitus, The Philosophers - 2010 |
Ancient Philosopher Series – Day #2
Are you feeling alone in the world, insignificant and of little use? Become part of a beautiful landscape. Dive into a group, an club, a service. Contribute your time, expertise, muscle, ideas to something that interests you. It does not matter if you think you will be of use. Your probably won’t be of great value at first. But you will be if you stick with it.
Two years ago I started running in an organized group from a running store in Tulsa called Fleet Feet.
I was out of shape and started with a group that ran 1 minute then walked 3. It was sometimes tough. I was not contributing much. I was making friends though and encouraging them when I could catch my breath. Now it is 2 years later and I am a coach of that same group. I lead the out of shape people. I direct them to their goal. I contribute in larger ways now than I could have before. I am part of a beautiful landscape of humans working to be healthy and I love that.
Here are some things you can do:
Join a nature group. That could be helping in a urban wilderness area, or helping at a community garden center.
Join a political movement. You want to have passion in your life? Get connected to a cause, you will be surrounded by passion. Just don’t join some stupid group that hates, ok?
Volunteer with a cure group. What runs in your family? Heart disease? Autism? Schizophrenia? Cancer? Make yourself of worth to that group, be part of the cure.
Join a mentor program. What are you good at and love? Do you know how many people need help learning to read? How many kids need help with math?
Help out with animals. No city has enough funds or people to take care of the stray animals they find. No zoo has enough people to take care of the animals and the visitors as they would like. No breed of dog or cat will reject your help in rescuing them.
If you are isolated you can change that. If you are alone and lonely, you can change that. If you are not part of the wider world, you can change that. Take the step. Be part of the beautiful landscape.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“The most beautiful order of the world is still a random gathering of things insignificant in themselves.” – Heraclitus, of which we know nothing. Well, ok. He was Greek and lived 540BCE – 480BCE, but that’s all we know.
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 2, 2010 | Diogenes, The Philosophers - 2010 |
Tis a week of Ancient Philosophers it is. Let’s start with Diogenes, shall we?
Diogenes was a slave early in his life. The story goes that when he was on the auction block he pointed to his future owner in the crowd and said “Sell me to that man. He needs a master.” He did get sold to that man and went on to become a well-known bad boy philosopher in Athens. The reason I chose this quote though is not about real slaves and owners, it’s about how to master those traits that enslave you. You can hope to get rid of a trait or a habit, and that is best in many cases such as cigarettes and alcohol. But if we are honest with ourselves we are not going to get rid of all our traits and habits, even the bad ones. We are going to live with them. The key is figuring out how to master them and bend them away from negativity and destruction.
Let’s talk eating for example. You can’t not eat. You can’t take it out of your life. You have no option but to let it control you, or you control it. If you were a slave (to the master named food) and you wanted to actually become the master of that master how would you go about it? Would you do as Diogenes did and announce to the world that you were going to be the master? Or would you be more subtle and slowly, but with strong intent, design the life of that master in such a way that you controlled everything he did, everywhere he went, everyone he saw.
Think of it that way and perhaps it will give you a new perspective. And here is the best part. Your master, be it food or something else, is actually pretty dumb. It will allow you to take control of it if you have the will to do so. It’s not up to food, it’s up to you.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“The art of being a slave is to rule one’s master.” – Diogenes, 404 BCE – 323 BCE, Greek philosopher. Famous for the story where he went looking for one honest man in Athens and couldn’t find one, even with a lamp in broad daylight. Thanks to one of my favorite quote book authors for this info. James Geary, author of ‘Geary’s Guide to the World’s Great Aphorists’.
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by Marty Coleman | May 30, 2010 | Sketchbook History Tour, Venice |
A perturbed couple at an Italian poetry reading at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy 5/31/03
They were perturbed because us crass Americans (me and my daughters) were not in their expectations for the night. My response? To draw the perturbed couple so one day I could post them to my blog and say, look here is a perturbed couple.
Drawing © Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | May 29, 2010 | Series |
A vintage napkin from 2001. Put in the lunches I made for my daughters.
I am not busy enough, but I should be.
Drawing © Marty Coleman
“A busy person never knows how much they weigh.” – E. W. Howe, 1853-1937, American author
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by Marty Coleman | May 23, 2010 | I Draw in Church, Sunday |
Sunday is ‘I draw in church’ day
Sometimes even in color. This was drawn 16 years ago, 1/15/94, in California. You can see not all that much has changed. I still like turtles, cities in the distance, puffy clouds, oceans and volcanoes.
Drawing © Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | May 21, 2010 | Sports - 2010, Vince Lombardi |
Day #3 in my Sports series
David and Goliath is the drawing but I am going to talk about baseball.
My favorite moment in all of baseball history was October 15, 1988. It was the World Series, the Oakland A’s vs the Los Angeles Dodgers, game 1. The A’s were heavy favorites to win the game and the series. I believe everyone on both teams and all their fans thought their team could win at the beginning of the game.
But I doubt that the many of the Dodger fans believed it when they were losing 4-3 in the ninth inning. After all, the best player they had was out for the entire series. He wasn’t in the dugout, he was in the training room, not able to play. It was hard to believe it when there were 2 outs and the best relief pitcher in all of baseball, Dennis Eckersley, was throwing his best stuff.
It was still hard to believe it when the star who couldn’t play because of a bad knee and a bad hamstring, Kurt Gibson, came out of the dugout to pinch hit for the pitcher. Not many believed. They hoped, but the didn’t believe. But Gibson believed. He tells the story of being in the training room, his knee on ice the entire game, imagining the scenario where he might be able to bat in the 9th inning. He spent the entire game believing that if the chance arose he could bat. And it came to pass as he imagined. Even with a full count Gibson believed he could do it. He also believed he could read the pitcher. He knew what type of pitch Eckersley was going to throw. When that pitch came, Gibson hit the most improbable home run ever to win the game. Not only did that hit win the game, but it so demoralized the A’s that the Dodgers went on to win the World Series. Gibson never played another inning of the series.
Gibson didn’t pay attention to what another person said. After all, it wasn’t their bat, their glory, their moment. It was his. He knew that what mattered wasn’t how strong he was, or how fast he was. What mattered is he believed he could do it.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man. Sooner or later the one who wins is the one who thinks he can.” – Vince Lombardi, 1913-1970, Football coach, Green Bay Packers
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by Marty Coleman | May 20, 2010 | John Wooden, Sports - 2010 |
Day #2 in my Sports series. It also seems to be turning into a ‘John Wooden’ series since both quotes so far are by him.
I started coaching a beginning running group this week. Maybe that is why the sports idea popped into my head. I do know that my group includes many who are scared and nervous about running. Some are overweight, some are out of shape, some have never done any real exercise in their life, EVER. They don’t know if they can do it.
With each session we have a goal race at the end. In this case it is a 5k race in about 12 weeks. Many are worried they can’t do that. Guess what? They can’t….yet. If they focus on what they cannot do, run 3.1 miles without stopping, they are likely to feel stress, anxiety, nervousness, defeated, scared and overwhelmed.
However, if they focus on what they can do, which is to run this one training run, which includes walking intervals, less distance, water stops, training, coaching and support, then their fears will be much less. It is doable.
What is the huge brick wall you keep staring at that you can’t jump or climb over? What smaller hurdles are before it over which you can leap? In this case, I want you to turn that old saying, ‘Keep your eye on the prize’ upside down. I want you to take your eye off the prize and instead put it on only the next task in your journey towards the prize. Don’t worry, you know and I know you will NOT truly forget the prize. All you are doing is looking where you need to look for the task. You can do that and the prize will actually get closer.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden, 1910 – 2010, basketball coach
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by Marty Coleman | May 19, 2010 | John Wooden, Sports - 2010 |
Long ago I once had a friend who hated sports. He thought it was just the stupidest thing in the whole world for someone to chase after a ball, hit a ball, kick a ball, throw a ball or do any other thing with a ball. It held no interest to him. I also think he saw it as a waste of time. It was not utilitarian, not for a redemptive purpose of some sort. It was frivolous. He took pride in his dislike for sports. I think he saw it as an intellectual badge of honor.
I saw it as elitist and ignorant. Now, I know many will say I shouldn’t say that. That he has a right to not like sports just as I have a right to like them. And that would be true. But I am not arguing with his dislike of sports. I am arguing with his denigration and dismissal of the sport itself, those who play the sport and those who watch it as having no value.
I don’t watch sports a lot, but when I do I find great value in many aspects of it. Great examples of character being revealed, for good or bad. Beautiful displays of physical agility, intense and amazing split-second strategic decision making, and fantastic coordination of individuals into one cohesive team among other things.
If we want humans to only be utilitarian, to be only focused on redeeming their time, money, work, effort for a specific puritan purpose, then many other activities will seem worthless to do or pay attention to, maybe even dangerous. If sports is included in this list, then we should also include:
- Hobbies
- Art
- Dancing
- Music
- Play
- Movies / TV
- Books (especially novels)
- Decorating and landscaping
- Celebrations such as birthdays and anniversaries
You don’t have to like sports. But denigrating them and those who participate them doesn’t make you a better person, it makes you a lesser one.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“Sports do not build character, they reveal it.” – John Wooden, 1910 – 2010, UCLA Basketball coach. Read about him and his UCLA teams at his wiki bio. You will be astonished at the depth and width of his character and ability.
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by Marty Coleman | May 17, 2010 | Davy Crockett, Fame |
Here in America people who pay attention to the popular culture tend to see a lot of desperate attempts at fame and stardom. These fame pursuers see the greased pig and think they will be the one who can hold on to it. They think they have the right idea or the right looks or music or art or invention or style. They are better than the other ones, they will succeed where the others failed.
They are most likely wrong. The reason is they are pursuing the pig of fame instead of the path of success. I don’t mean that in some cliché marketing way. I simply mean that if fame is the end goal, you aren’t on a path, you are on a hunt defined by your desperation and fame’s fickle route through the prickers and thickets, a route you have to follow mercilessly.
If you’re end goal is success (which may include fame as a by-product) you can make a plan, you can follow through on it, and you can gauge your success on that plan. Most importantly, you will have substance that will sustain you whether fame comes or not.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“Fame is like a shaved pig with a greased tail. It is only after it’s slipped through the hands of thousands, that some fellow, by mere chance, holds on to it.” – Davy Crockett, 1786-1836, U.S. Congressman, frontiersman.
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