Confessions of an English Major – Re-Reading

I have stacks of books (not yet on shelves) that I have not read - yet.  A further list of some 150 titles lives on my phone in a file called “Books to Read,” and I periodically plunk away at the 100 Best Novels listing published by the Modern Library.   One might argue that I have no business re-reading any books.

I just can’t help it. 

Some books are as comforting as old friends or coming home after a long trip.  Familiar and reassuring, their pages turn with the easy knowledge that this story will turn out ok.  As bibliophiles we sometimes become very invested in the books we read often sharing the pain, frustration and anxiety of characters – or feeling it in their absence as the omniscient reader.  Reading new titles can be tiring.

A big part of what and why we read is left to personal preference, which I celebrate. And here is my general philosophy regarding the practice of re-reading. 

Sometimes I re-read to suss out deeper layers of meaning in a complicated plot line.  Often I return to a much-loved title break up other more strenuous reading.  Some books I read seasonally (LAMB, at least in part during Lent for the last several years).  Other books are just never far from my mind.  I think there are three or four print copies (not to mention two film copies) of The Hobbit at my house including one that rides around in my briefcase.  This last, in case there are a few moments to kill and I have nothing to read. (Yes, this is a concern in my life.) 

Mostly, I just like to re-read books that make me feel something. 

Why do you re-read?  

Here are some of my favorite re-reads:

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Chronicles of the Shadow War by Chris Claremont & George Lucas

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

On Writing by Stephen King

Recent titles I’m adding to the list:

Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbrathe (aka J.K. Rowling)

Ghost Soldier’s by Hampton Sides

Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides

O Captain! My Captain! OR A Curtain Call for Mr. Williams

For the past two days, my newsfeeds have been dominated by the death of the late great Robin Williams.   There is no shame in my confession that I too have turned my thoughts toward the amazing life and body of work of this prolific entertainer. 

Mr. Williams was the first A-list entertainer that I ever saw in a live performance.  To say the show was memorizing would be an injustice – he was on fire and so was the audience.  Robin Williams is to my generation what Jonathan Winters and George Carlin were to my parents’: edgy, dynamic, irreverent, thought provoking, intelligent, intense, pure entertainment. 

Like so much of his life, and the comedy the fueled his work, the death of this giant of film and stage forces us to stop and think. 

What I’ve been doing, what we’ve all been doing over the last few days has been more than thinking.  We’re mourning.  I actually miss this guy whom I’ve only seen once in real life and never actually met.  What’s wrong with this picture? 

Whether we like it or not, we live a more plugged in life.  In this screen-dominated reality, the role that entertainers play in our perception of the world seems to be shifting.

This isn’t as far a logical jump as we might think.

Consider the child who lives across country from their beloved grandparents.  When interactions with Grandma and Grandpa are facilitated through skype, video-chat, video messages, pictures sent through email and facebook peppered with the occasional visit, there is a disconnect.  Really, how much different is that relationship than one with a performer who is seen perhaps more regularly on the same devices. 

Ask yourself how many of your friends do you claim you’re “in touch with,” but in reality your interactions consist of reading each other’s blog, following on twitter, and occasionally “liking” photos and posts on Facebook.  That’s not a relationship folks, once upon a time that was called stalking.     

Taking this one step further, each year there are fewer and fewer reasonable arguments that violent video games influence acts of extremeviolence in schools, shopping centers, etc.  It boils down to an ancient idea, that messages reinforced over time eventually become reality. 

If that’s the case as Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and his research shows, then why can’t the same principle work the other way?  The loss of a beloved entertainer may seem more real than it used to.

Robin Williams was “an airman, a doctor, a genie, and ananny,” but for many he was also a companion, a babysitter, a mentor, and a message of hope.   For several days we have tried to capture the feels associated with this loss. One of the best writers I’ve ever run into happens to write a blog for my local library, and he tackled this difficult topic with a style and grace deserving of Mr. Williams, you should check it out here.  

As for me and my house, we shall remember the joy and vitality that Mr. Williams brought to millions.  He inspired a generation by his life and turned international attention to the very real dangers of clinical depression by his death. 

“But oh, to be free.  Not to have to go…Poof! Whaddya need? Poof! Whaddya need?  Poof! Whaddya need?  To be my own master.”  Genie, Aladdin

For those who have posted disparaging comments about or questioning the reality of depression – I appreciate that you don’t get it.  Until you fight that battle yourself or stand beside someone you love who wrestles those demons it’s pretty hard to grasp.  But I assure you; once you’ve witnessed the pain caused by that great abyss of mental illness you will never question its power again. 

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends, and fans of Robin Williams. 

And to the man himself:  May you find peace wherever you are. 

There is no better way to end this reflection than with words borrowed from Mr. Williams’ own body of work, words which he in turn borrowed from Uncle Walt. 

"O Captain! my Captain! Your fearful trip is done…”  Rest in peace. 

Dead Poet's Society: http://youtu.be/X6y2Y9i5Sj0

Confessions of an English Major: In Defense of a Liberal Arts Education

The value of reading has always been important in my family.  My involvement in Speech & Debate, Theatre, and Alpha, Delta, Rho Literary Society, also found general favor as appropriate extra curricular activities. 

The Ah, Ha Moment:  My senior year of high school brought with it a requisite unit on Shakespeare.  We had an amazing teacher (Mrs. L) who made the language come alive and inspired us to dive in head first assuring us that the water was in fact plenty deep.  That semester changed my life.  For one man to write such timeless characters and stories that reach into the heart of what it means to be human and strike a universal chord, amazed me.  Then Mrs. L introduced us to the concept of Shakespearian Archetypes.  The lesson on archetypes came home during a research session for debate when I cam across an article about non-biologically related look-a-likes. (Here’s a more recentarticle on the same topic.) It just made sense.  My friends Nate and Z, were not related yet shared spookily similar physical features, facial expressions, and movement patterns.  And my first major realization of the crossover from literature to real life took root. 

A few years later, when I announced that my college majors were going to be Communication (focus in Rhetoric) and English Literature, but I wasn’t planning to go to law school, the nervous looks started coming out.  

“What do you plan to do,” nervous friends and family asked.  My answers varied, but I had faith in the skills I was developing.  It wasn’t until much later, however, that I realized the real value of my love affair with the liberal arts.  The entire sum of my undergraduate experience can be summed up into three simple elements that have made all the difference: I learned to think, research, and create.

You can reframe these skills into much more resume appropriate, human resources approved, buzz-word savvy terms but they are the foundation of my intellectual growth and professional development. 

In the liberal arts we are taught to consume and analyze words, images, ideas, processes, history.  The best teachers push students beyond to learn about the systems and climates that inspired such creations, then a step further to really understand the impact those cultural artifacts had on the world ever after.  All things come back to the human experience, and what better way to understand that experience than to study literature, art, history, sociology, political science, religion and philosophy.  Everything else stems from and returns to this foundation. 

Please understand that I’m not downplaying specialized educational tracts.  We need to have highly trained nurses, engineers, accountants, mathematicians, and even lawyers.  But let’s also acknowledge the roles of the liberal arts majors who dissect social norms and organizational systems only to rebuild them stronger and more efficient than ever before.  It’s time to acknowledge the value in teachers who change plans time and time again because not all kids learn the same way or on the same schedule (even if that’s how the state wants it).  Let the student who majored in Philosophy and Computer Science be proud that he brings a heightened ethical framework to the projects he develops from code to front end interface. 

To all my fellow Liberal Arts Majors, to anyone contemplating a course of liberal arts study, and especially to the parents and friends of those young people: THERE IS GREAT VALUE to studying liberal arts.  Are there jobs out there explicitly advertising “Wanted: Liberal Arts Graduates,” probably not many.  Are there jobs that need liberal arts majors to do them well, you bet.  You see we are used to having to reframe and interpret material in innovative and exciting ways – even ourselves. 

Special Thanks to my parents for their love and support of my crazy academic wanderings

and to a few of my teachers (sorry for everyone I missed)

Bonnie Roehrborn

Janet Smith

Betty Buchanan

Anna Leichty

Traci Andis

Jeremy Bernstein

Monty Pedon

Bob Pickell

Br. Rob Reuter, C.PP.S.
Charley Kerlin

John Rahe

Heidi Rahe

Zachary White

Maia Hawthorne

Bill Mottolesse

Fred Berger

Fr. Tim McFarland, C.PP.S. 

Rob Pfaff

Sally Berger

John Nichols

Peter Watkins

Jody Watkins

Bill White

Mark Steiner

Fr. Ed McCarty, C.PP.S. 
Fr. Dr. Bill Stang, C.PP.S.

Confessions of an English Major: The Power of Words

My buddy Canadian Greg has offered a lot of sage advice over the years, but few conversations have stuck with me more than when he shared his philosophy on the power of words.   For readers who may not know Canadian Greg, he is an extrovert’s extrovert.  He’s a storyteller at heart and has rarely met a stranger. 

Family and friends often tease Greg about his prodigious abilities to start and hold conversations with total strangers and life-long-friends alike.  This ability also makes Greg a phenomenal businessman and leader in his field. Despite all of the conversations he participates in, Greg maintains a tremendous respect for the power of words. 

On some level, Greg acknowledges that between the words involved in formal and informal conversations (not to mention contracts, business e-mails, and client letters) millions of dollars and the livelihoods of dozens of families depend on him and the words he chooses to use and not to use. 

“Words are real,” he once told me while we were hiking through a Canadian Nature Preserve.  “People aren’t careful enough, eh?” (he’s Canadian remember) “You have to pay attention to what comes out of your mouth and what you write, because those words have power.  Like electricity you can guide them, but once they’re out of your mouth (or pen) a lot can happen and you can't take them back.” 

I still talk a lot.  So does Greg.  But ever since that conversation, I’ve tried to be more mindful of what I say and how I say it.  Writing, like sculpting, is often best approached as a process of refinement.  Distilling words down to their most elegant form.  Words represent ideas, and inspire action, giving each syllable a real world power to influence lives.   

More than any English Professor, Debate Coach, or professional mentor, I have learned some of my most important lessons about the power of words from farmers, grandma's, EMTs, secretary's, Firefighters, nurses, outdoorsmen, mechanics, and housewives.  Wisdom, when she comes, takes the least expected and most effective path.  

This post is the first in a series that will focus on the power of words, literature, writing, reading and general observations on the language that we use and misuse on a regular basis.    

There and Back Again, and Again, and Again

I choose to embrace my geek side.   If that bothers you, it’s probably best to stop reading now.  It’s only going to get worse.

To date, I have read The Hobbit in excess of twenty-five times.  Each read brings out something different for me.  At first, it was just a great story with heroic characters.  Then in middle school, I saw myself as Bilbo Baggins – a pudgy, timid, character who had more to offer than anyone expected – including himself.   Through that lens the book became a tale of hope.  Each subsequent reading uncovered some new insight, pearl of wisdom or subtle humor that further endeared me to the story. 

Rereading the book in anticipation of the film release I discovered sympathy for the character of Thorin Oakenshield.  A leader vested with the responsibility of leading his people, yet a character in pain after suffering a great loss.  At his core, Thorin is driven by a desire for justice and a good heart.  His focus to look out for his company, his team, was so great that it almost led to their collective demise.  Tunnel vision that becomes attachment, which then crosses into obsession is not all that uncommon in how we operate in the professional setting.  Tolkien calls it the dragon sickness, now we mostly call it drive or ambition.  When infected by this sickness achieving the objective or completing the mission becomes our focus – at any cost.  Results matter more than methods. 

We are called to do more, to be more.  Completing checklists and accomplishing goals possess no more inherently “bad” qualities than does being rich or successful. It is in the pursuit of these objectives and conditions surrounding them, which brings the moral imperative into question. 

Author and Aikido Master, Terry Dobson addressed the roots of this problem in his book Aikido in Everyday Life. 

“There’s nothing wrong with winning, provided that what you are winning is a contest.  The problem…is that, over the years, we’ve let the win/lose frame of reference shift into areas of our lives that are not contests.   [We’ve] bought into an imaginary, arbitrary system where everything’s a contest and there are no ties—just sudden-death play-offs and a long walk to the showers.” 

Within the metaphor of The Hobbit, Thorin too was blinded by the prize.  His focus, his greed, ruined relationships and ultimately cost him his life – though not without an 11^th hour conversion.  Whether intentional or not, the story of the Dwarf-Kings mania speaks loudly as a cautionary tale. 

In our own professional lives it’s easy to let one more project, one more sale, one more case closed, one more patient served drag us deeper down the rabbit hole.  Not that any of these things are bad, but when their pursuit chokes out others aspects of our character, ethic and humanity then we really have a problem.