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.

Over the summer I was mesmerized by Roz Savage’s amazing feat of rowing from San Francisco to Hawaii. In her thrice weekly podcast with Leo Laporte she was freqently pressed for an answer to Why? Despite her compelling commitment to bring attention to the the plight of the environment and her moving stories of abandoning management consulting for the open ocean, I suspect Roz’s real reason for first rowing the Atlantic, and now the Pacific, is closer to Philippe’s answer to Why? When she sees a plastic water bottle, she recycles. But when she sees an open ocean, she rows.

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Checks and Balances

ByHeather

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

— Lord Acton

I was born in Canada and came to the US between my sophomore and junior year in high school. One of my first courses in my newly adopted country was high school civics. I learned with a newcomer’s sense of awe about the three branches of government and their important role in each checking the power of the other. It is highly attributed that this system of checks and balances is the genius of the America.

In the intervening years since those wide-eyed high school years I have been a casual observer of the reality that power and money are self preserving. …

Don’t make them think

ByHeather

If you make people think they’re thinking, they’ll love you; But if you really make them think, they’ll hate you.

— Don Marquis

I lived in Denver in the late ’80s. At one point I met an acquaintance who invited me to attend his monthly book club. I was in a heavy reading phase and was excited about the prospect of connecting with fellow book lovers. I was encouraged to bring a book and plan on sharing a favorite passage.

The book I happened to be reading at the time was The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and the passage I picked to read turned out to be pretty heavy.

TV Ads – Too Many?

ByHeather

We are in the business of providing the material that prevents the commercials from all slamming together . . . that’s what we are doing here. That’s what we are doing on the West Wing set. We gotta deliver them twelve minutes of stuff to separate the Chevy commercials.

— Lawrence O’Donnell, Jr. Executive Producer of the The West Wing. Quoted in an NPR interview, January 2006.

I counted forty-two ads in last week’s episode of Lost. And that does not include any that aired before the show started or after the credits started to roll. Just forty-two ads in five breaks squeezed between six seven-minute segments of content. There were almost nineteen minutes of ads in a sixty-two minute time slot. That’s almost 30% of the air time dedicated to noise from advertisers.

Soaring to the Highest Heights

ByHeather

. . . those who can soar to the highest heights can also plunge to the deepest depths, and the natures which suffer most sharply are those which also enjoy most keenly.

— Lucy Maud Montgomery, Ann of the Island

I grew up in a home where showing emotions was not encouraged. As I set out on my own I was proud of my ability to maintain an even keel. But as time wore on I came to realize that holding my emotions in check was just a cloak for numbness. A dear friend offered me this quote and I was suddenly free.

In order to soar to emotional heights I had to allow myself the possibility of plunging to the deepest depths. Goodbye even keel. I learned to embrace the lows and reveled in the highs. Sometimes you have to live with the rain. But when the sun eventually comes out — and it always does — the warmth and the light are more glorious than ever.

Spelling

ByHeather

People who can’t spell a word in more than one way are dumb.

— W. C. Fields

I stumbled upon this quote early in my career and have had the opportunity to recite it countless times. I taught high school for two years right out of college and the students were merciless. I moved on to teaching at the college level for many more years where the students were more forgiving but no less astute. Then I made the move to corporate America where, as a business professional, there no end to the opportunities to make presentations or take notes at the whiteboard. Despite my passionate commitment to correct spelling and grammar an occasional misspelling in front of the class or a typo in the PowerPoint deck is inevitable.

Here is where our old friend W.C. Fields comes to the rescue. After discovering a spelling mistake in front of a group of people I simply recite his pearl of wisdom, wait for the mild aknowledgement of smiles, and move on. No need to have your confidence shaken or allow the audience to derail your message. Just move on quickly with wit and aplomb.

The aphorism plays equally well from the audience as it does from the podium. It is a great way to help a presenter through a rough spot if they become unnerved by a typo.

Passion

ByHeather

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

— Harold Whitman

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