Apr
29
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One of the most important things we can do for our kids is to expose them to the larger world. Whether that is as simple as going to a museum, watching a show on TV about an unfamiliar topic or as complex as a vacation abroad, letting your children see a world beyond their own daily life is essential to helping them make sense of their place in the world.
The goal isn’t to have them be disappointed with their daily life and the ‘lesser’ things that inhabit it. The goal is to understand how those lesser things connect to the larger world. Maybe they will understand how the TV show they watch actually has it’s roots in Shakespeare. Maybe they will realize the graphic design and photography they love in the windows at the mall had it’s roots in the museums of Europe or the pyramids in Mexico’s Yucatan, who knows.
The point is that no one’s world, no one’s things are truly ‘lesser’ if they know how to connect them to the large forces of culture, art, science and history.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1803-1873, English author. He wrote the famous line ‘It was a dark and stormy night’. San Jose State University (one of my Alma Maters) has an annual writing contest to find the worst original opening sentence for a novel. The contest is named after Bulwer-Lytton.
Nov
02
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The truth is we are never going to attend to only one or the other. We will always be paying attention to the trite and base things to some degree. To WHAT degree is the question.
Do you spend your entire day thinking of these trivial, maybe mean-spirited things? Do you focus continually on gaining things and status for yourself? Do you worry constantly about how you appear to others? Do you judge others based solely on surface elements?
And the bigger question, do you offset any of those obsessions with deeper thoughts and actions that help you call into question your focus, that help turn you towards higher good for yourself and others.
Maybe it is church that does it, listening to the sermon. Maybe it is walking in nature. Maybe it is reading wisdom from the ages. Maybe it is watching and evaluating the moral tales on TV (yes, there are many good lessons to be learned on TV). Whatever it is, are you paying attention? How are you balancing your life towards the greater things?
It doesn’t happen by accident, especially in a capitalist driven world that is geared towards wanting you to be a consumer, to spend money. You have to be deliberate about inventing yourself, about creating the greater self you want to be.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily blog, which you should subscribe to. It will make your brain bigger and your day better.
Quote by Mencius, 372 – 289 BCE, Chinese philosopher
