It’s the final day of ‘Quotes on Quotes’ week at the NDD. Any suggestions for next week’s topic?
All artists and writers copy. Copying is unavoidable. But all good and great artists and writers transform that which they copy into their own words, their own vision. The mediocre and creativity deficient are not able, or are lazy and thus unwilling, to do the hard work of creating their own work even while taking ideas from the past.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who seems to use a lot of quotes in his work.
Quote by Havelock Ellis, 1859-1939, British physician and writer.
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.
“There is no excellent beauty that hat not some strangemess in the proportion.” – Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, Englishman, 1st and Only Viscount of St. Alban
I like it because it is true AND because it makes me ask ‘What am I not?’ and ‘What am I?’ two questions it is always good to consider in the pursuit of growth and wisdom, as well as imagination and humor.
“Imagination was given to compensate for what we are not, and humor to console us for what we are.” – Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, English Author and Philosopher
It is good to be prepared in case opportunity comes along, that is the well understood maxim. But, it is equally important that you think through how to create opportunities that would not exist otherwise. That might be getting the courage to meet or write those who could help you. It might be seeing a need and filling it in someone’s, or some enterprise’s life. But no matter what direction the opportunity resides in, it takes courage and confidence, above all else, to go in that direction. And courage and confidence do not exist without belief in one’s self and one’s vision and abilities. Do you have that?
“A wise person will make more opportunities than they find.” – Francis Bacon
