Nov
09
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Good and bad, not to think about what others think about. Bad if your child wants to hold your hand and you are oblivious. Good if someone thinks your hair is too blue and you love your blue hair.
Good if you are a creative sort and your career, well-being, success, etc. is wrapped up in you being original in your creative production. You can’t be original in production if you aren’t original in your thoughts. Bad if you are aren’t paying any attention to the desires and intentions of your clients and so miss the boat in your creative endeavors again and again.
Good if you are focused on a goal you really want to achieve and you are able to ignore what the naysayers are thinking and saying about your efforts. Bad if wise and trusted people are trying to tell you truth and you are escaping reality and not facing the truth.
Whenever someone says to me ‘I don’t care what anybody thinks’ I usually come away with the impression they are fighting VERY hard to not care but in fact they do. Everyone does to some degree. What they really mean is ‘I don’t care what CERTAIN people think.’
Thus, a key to maturity, wisdom and peace is knowing the difference between those whom you do care what they think and those whom you do not. Find that out and admit it to yourself and you are on your way to being a true individual in the world.
Drawing, quote and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Apr
16
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Three out of my four daughters were in either Cheer or Pom squads as they were growing up. Some did it for many years, some just for one. I spent a lot of time watching cheerleaders.
Have you ever noticed how uniforms attempt to do what the name suggests? They are used to create uniformity. Uniformity is good to create the visual impact of a team working together. Identity and purpose is based on the team.
But uniforms did the opposite for me. They focused my attention on what made each individual cheerleader just that, individual. The uniform created a standard base by which I could see how they were all different, all beautiful.
And what made them beautiful? It wasn’t how they were similar, it was how they were different from each other. If there is one thing of utmost importance for a parent, especially a father, to instill in his daughters, it is that he sees them as beautiful in their uniqueness, in how they stand apart and are themselves, not how they look like everyone else.
That doesn’t mean you denigrate their desire to fit in. We all want to fit in, and that is ok. But as they work to fit in they will always find that they don’t completely. When they experience that, it’s a parent’s job to build the value of their uniqueness, the beauty in it.
If a woman isn’t proud of her unique beauty, she will only be proud of how she appears to be like someone else. That doesn’t lead to true self-confidence, just the temporary illusion of it.
Quote by Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, Englishman, 1st and Only Viscount of St. Alban
Dec
04
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I woke up early, around 5am (had to pee) and laid back in bed with thoughts of accomplishment in my head. I am not sure why but the question ‘what would you say is your greatest accomplishment’ came to mind. I envisioned it being asked by an interviewer as if I was on a morning talk show.
My first thought in response was this: My greatest accomplishment is continuing to be positive, confident and happy in spite of what life has thrown at me. Following right behind was the thought: My greatest accomplishment is continuing to be an artist most every day of my life.
Both revolve around knowing and being who I am, who I want to be. If I struggle with knowing and acting to be who I want, it is a struggle not to become someone else, but to adjust myself enough to fit in as I might need to fit in in certain circumstances. I am not always successful at that.
So, what about you? What is your greatest accomplishment? I am NOT talking about careers or how many kids you have or something like that. I am talking about your emotional, social and psychological accomplishments in life.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily blog
Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, American Philosopher and Essayist
