Be Interesting

ByHeather

If it weren’t for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song.

— Carl Perkins, Rockabilly pioneer

I have been hesitant to post this quote because of its inclination towards banality. I mean, come on, how corny is “the stream would have no song?” But there is an underlying wisdom to this rockabilly adage. We do not grow if we are not challenged.

Lately I have been intrigued by the idea of what makes people interesting. I discovered a number of “be interesting” blog posts and began to reflect on what captures my interest when I meet new people. I find people interesting when they are curious about the world around them. This is especially true when they are curious about their own journey as well.

The professional speaking circuit is flooded with people who have overcome great adversity — the cancer survivors, the “pick-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps” entrepreneurs, or the guy who cut off his hand to save his life. We are drawn to these stories because of their sensationalism but we take away a deep sense of inspiration because of the speaker’s ability to turn adversity into a song.

Be interesting.

 

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Man on Wire

ByHeather

When I see three oranges, I juggle; when I see two towers, I walk.

— Philippe Petit

I watched the wonderful documentary Man on Wire last night. It is the inspiring story of Philippe Petit and his lifelong passion to walk a tightrope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. His dream began even before the towers were built and culminated in a 45 minute walk in the sky on August 7, 1974. The film is especially bittersweet with all of the behind-the-scenes details of the twin towers, knowing their ultimate fate.

Philippe’s quote above was in response to the incessant pleas by the press for an answer to “Why?” There is no why, he insisted. When he sees oranges, he juggles. When he sees two towers, he walks.

Trees

ByHeather

Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed, chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides, branching horns, or magnificent bole backbones. Few that fell trees plant them; nor would planting avail much towards getting back anything like the noble primeval forests. During a man’s life only saplings can be grown, in the place of old trees – tens of centuries old – that have been destroyed.

— John Muir

Like many in my generation, I devoured J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings with great relish. The metaphors, archetypes and stories from the rich world of Middle Earth continue to resonate through my mind many years after my last reading. One of my favorite creations is the sentient, intelligent, and wise race of Ents. These humanoid trees spoke too slowly and at a frequency too low for humans to perceive. They moved through the forest at a pace too slow to be perceptible.

Some years ago I hiked with a friend to a sacred Native American burial ground in the mountains of Northwest New Mexico…

You ask me why I spend my life writing

ByHeather

You ask me why I spend my life writing?
Do I find entertainment?
Is it worthwhile?
Above all, does it pay?
If not, then, is there a reason? …

I write only because there is a voice within me that will not be still.

— Sylvia Plath

For ten years during my late twenties and early thirties I kept a journal. I started writing modestly in college and it eventually grew into such a compulsion that I would often write for hours a day. The pen seemed to have a mind of its own. Sometimes I would start a sentence not knowing where it was going, only to be amazed at the journey that it would launch. Even as computers started to enter my life, I wrote everything longhand. There was something magic about the connection between my thoughts and the paper, linked through the pen clasped in my fingertips.

Be the Best of Whatever You Are

ByHeather

If you can’t be a pine at the top of the hill,
     Be a shrub in the valley – but be
The best little shrub by the side of the hill;
     Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.

If you can’t be a bush, be a bit of grass,
     And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie then just be a bass,
     But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can’t all be captains, some have to be crew,
     There’s something for all of us here;
There’s work to be done, and we all have to do
     Our part in the way that’s sincere.

If you can’t be a highway, then just be a trail,
     If you can’t be the sun, be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or you fail,
     Be the best of whatever you are.

— Douglas Mallock

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