by Marty Coleman | Mar 20, 2014 | Marty Coleman, Meh Meh Mediocrity - 2013 |
Today is the appropriate day to talk about Christianity’s love affair with mediocrity.
The ‘Inappropriate’ Outfit
A friend of mine who has modeled for our photography group here in Tulsa attends a fashion design college. She was called out in front of her classmates recently for her ‘extremely inappropriate’ choice of clothing by her teacher. She said it was inappropriate because the college was a ‘christian college’.
She was quite upset by the confrontation because she takes great pride in her fashion choices and styles. It was embarrassing and humiliating for her. The outfit consisted of a typical black tank top and black long pants along with a black leather jacket. I have seen a photo of her outfit and it is well within acceptable bounds for a young woman in America, especially at a fashion design school. It seems to me that it was an act of public shaming on the part of the teacher that isn’t easy to explain.
Slut Shaming?
It made me start thinking about Christianity’s obsession with ‘appropriateness’. Why did this teacher think the outfit was inappropriate? Were there men ogling the student? Were women whispering behind her back? Were her private parts showing? Maybe the teacher herself was unable to concentrate because she was so distracted by the outfit? Did the teacher think my friend was in danger of appearing too ‘loose’ or ‘slutty’ and would get sexually assaulted as a result?
Reputation and Judgment
I actually don’t think the teacher thought any of those things. I think the teacher’s reputation was threatened. I think she, and many Christians, wants a world where no one can question their appropriateness. And to do that they have to make sure no one thinks they approve of others who are supposedly inappropriate. Not just other people, but whole arenas of activity and effort in the creative world; fashion, art, music, dance, film. They are quick to judge because they themselves are worried about being seen as insufficiently righteous if they don’t.
Christian Mediocrity
What is the result of that mindset? The result is mediocrity. They are firmly planted in the safe middle with safe music, safe art, safe fashion, safe film. They don’t have to consider new creative ideas and images because they have already have a handy pre-judgment at hand that declares those ideas and images as inappropriate. And something judged to be inappropriate, even without good reasons behind the judgment, can be dismissed without consideration.
And mediocrity thrives when new ideas aren’t allowed to be considered.
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Drawing, quote and commentary by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Mar 1, 2013 | Anonymous, Meh Meh Mediocrity - 2013 |
Steady now, it’s finally day FOUR of Mediocrity Week!
The Invitation
Note the quote says it’s an invitation. That means you do not have to accept it. Having a regular paycheck at a steady job has within it the temptation to become mediocre. It does not mean it is a requirement. It is something to watch out for though because mediocrity in the work world is like a long term habit that leads to a disease that you don’t know you are acquiring until it is too late.
My Wife’s Resistance
My wife, Linda, is a business woman. She has worked in the same industry with the same company (bought and sold many times over) for over 20 years. She has had every opportunity to become settled and mediocre in her job but she hasn’t. She has always been committed to doing her job really well. There have been years and years of her building up effective business structures and procedures only to see them be dismantled by those who came after her. On a regular basis she is asked to go back in years later and clean up the detritus of failures and rebuild what she built before. And she does it. She has done this with the higher ups almost never realizing the incredible ability she has to do those things again and again. And the reason she can do them? Because she is dedicated to be not just competent but excellent at her job, whatever it is.
Tombstone
So, I have seen it done. The key is the desire to be excellent has to be internal. It cannot be decided by if you are high on your job at any one moment or not. It can’t be decided by the recognition, the salary, the perks. It has to be driven from your character. YOU have to want to be excellent apart from anyone or anything else. Just YOU.
If you are wondering if you want to be excellent, imagine having a tombstone that says, “Here Lies a Mediocre Human”.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who is married to an excellent woman.
Quote is Anonymous
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Mediocrity Week has so far had visits from 36 countries including:
- Latvia
- Zimbabwe
- Uganda
- Suriname
- Algeria
- Malaysia
I am not sure why I think it’s cool that the NDD is so international in its reach but I do.
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by Marty Coleman | Feb 28, 2013 | Albert Camus, Meh Meh Mediocrity - 2013 |
I slept on it and next thing I know it’s day 3 of Mediocrity Week!
Signs of Life
My post yesterday showed a woman watching TV in the dark, pretty much unmotivated and inactive in life. She was leading a mediocre life and I illustrated it by showing her being idle while the world passed her by. But the truth is being idle is not necessarily a sign of mediocrity. It’s mostly a sign of nothing. It’s just something we all do. We all have times we are idle, not pursuing some grand goal. We just sit and read a light novel, or watch a funny TV show, or listen to frothy infectious pop music. If you have a drive to achieve something, a drive to be excellent at something, then that idle time is good. It is needed to rejuvenate your ideas, your creativity, your energy.
Signs of Death
But if you are living a mediocre life, a life unmotivated and without a flame of excellence then that same idleness is a killer. It is not rejuvenating you, it is burying you. It is helping you to die while you are still alive. So ask yourself – Are you taking a breather at the end of a long day? Then you are in good company, most of us like to do that. Or are you taking a breather from life? Then you might want to slap yourself awake and see if you might not want to pursue something greater than the killing mediocrity of never ending idleness.
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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who has never used curlers for their intended purpose.
Quote By Albert Camus, 1913-1960, French writer and philosopher. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1957
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When I mentioned on twitter this morning that I was drawing a woman with curlers in her hair my friend and fellow running coach Theresa thought I might need some inspiration so she sent me a photo of herself in curlers. She says she sometimes will even stop at a convenience store to get something while in her curlers AND has been hit on a number of times. She says it has to do with her confidence, that she is who she is and likes it, curlers or not! I have to agree, that’s what confidence is all about!
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Trivia Question from yesterday answered
Question: A man known to many as ‘The most hated man in America’ was suppose to be on the Titanic but missed the boat. Who was he and why did he miss it?
Answer: Henry Clay Frick. He was the chairman of Andrew Carnegie’s steel company and was the man in charge of the violent response to a worker’s strike in 1892 at the Homestead Steel Plant. As a result of that he became widely hated in the US. He and his wife, Adelaide, were ticketed to be aboard the Titanic but she sprained her ankle in Italy shortly before the voyage and they were not able to make the crossing.
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by Marty Coleman | Feb 27, 2013 | Andrew Carnegie, Meh Meh Mediocrity - 2013 |
I motivated myself to drawing another Mediocrity napkin!
A Decapitated Life
This is gross, right? Well, so is spending your life sitting on a couch looking at gross images. So is wasting your life consumed with watching not doing. So is criticizing what other people do while you do nothing. So is killing yourself before your life is over.
A Reattached Life
I am currently reading the book ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley. We all know the story of the Doctor who makes a man out of various body parts and brings the creature to life. Did you know we do the same with ourselves? We just do it at the cellular level. Our body recreates itself constantly, old cells die off and existing cells divide to create new cells. One estimate, just as an example, says that we replace 10% of our fat cells per year and between 1% and .5 % of our cardiomyocyte heart cells per year depending on our age. That isn’t to say every single cell is replaced, that is not true. Many of our brain cells for example are with us since birth and will be with us when we die.
The Changing Life
Having new cells isn’t as nifty as say having a new face attached (which now can be done) but it is a reminder that what our cells can do, our brain and body can do. We ARE able to change our habits. We ARE able to change our attitudes. We ARE able to change our behaviors. We ARE able to lead a life of excellence instead of mediocrity.
The Mediocrity Chair
What does it take? It takes a decision to do it and the courage, when the moment arrives, to take action. But, But, But…..All the excuses, reasons, fears, roadblocks, shortcomings, past failures, past successes, pressure, relationships, disbelief, self-loathing, lack of hope, lack of trust, lack of ability are what courage is created to overcome.
So wind up that spring of courage, breathe deep and get the _______ out of your mediocrity chair and go. Whatever it is you want your life to be, I mean REALLY TRULY DEEPLY want your life to be… GO BE IT. You might fail but you will be farther and better than if you stayed in that chair of mediocrity.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who once had skin grafts done on my arms and back. They took the skin from my butt, which was basically the only place on my body that wasn’t burnt, isn’t that cute?
Quote by Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919, Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist
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Trivia question of the Day
A man known to many as ‘The most hated man in America’ was suppose to be on the Titanic but missed the boat. Who was he and why did he miss it?
Hint: It was not Andrew Carnegie.
Come back tomorrow for the answer.
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by Marty Coleman | Feb 25, 2013 | Meh Meh Mediocrity - 2013 |
In Honor of Oscar night…
The Emperor
Did you make fun of some the actresses and their dresses on the red carpet last night? I am not asking if you had an opinion about their dresses, but if you ridiculed, mocked and made fun of them. If you did, let me ask you this; Do you have as good a fashion sense as they do? Do you put yourself together regularly (or even occasionally) with a lot of attention paid to the visual statement you are making? Or are you perhaps the Emperor with No Clothes?
The Playing Field
You might think I am saying we shouldn’t be judging. Nothing could be further from the truth. We judge athletes on the playing field with how they play, that is why they are there and why they get paid well, to perform. There is nothing wrong with judging in that case.
On the red carpet the women (and men to a lesser degree) are on their own unique playing field. It’s proper to judge their performance, which in this case consists of how they have visually and materially present themselves. If you don’t think they did that well, then I don’t see anything wrong with saying so.
Judgment vs Judgment
But is it good for you to mock them? To ridicule them? Perhaps if they came in a paper sack, yes. But otherwise isn’t there a substantial character difference between saying a dress is ill-fitting and the actress made a bad fashion choice vs saying the actress looks like a slut in that dress? One is judging their choices, which you can actually see right in front of you and the other is judging their character, which you cannot see and don’t know. One is a legitimate critique while the other is self-righteous, egotistical puffery.
And The Oscar Goes To…
Who was your best dressed last night? My choice for best dressed last night?
I liked the metallic look so my choice was… a tie between
Stacy Keibler
and
Naomi Watts (who also should have won Best Actress!)
Photos courtesy of Popsugar.com
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who has never walked the red carpet. But it’s on my bucket list!
Quote by Dita Von Teese, Burlesque Entertainer
Dita Von Teese
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