those who can't...
So, I've been inspired by another blog:
pocketspider.blogspot.com
The thing about Spider's blog is, in my mind, it's a friend's blog. If I was to reference it, it would be something like "my friend spider wrote about this thing..."
But if you asked him about Phil, he would be like, "Phil?" (Unless, of course, he has a friend named Phil, in which case he might be a little confused). We live in the same boro of New York. Maybe we even see each other on the trains sometimes. (though he seems to ride the N and I ride the R, so maybe not). And I know him - through his blog - better than most other people.
The thing is, his blog is so honest and personal and... well, for lack of a better, less cliche word, deep. I think it's posts like his that made me believe I needed to be profound and such in my blog.
But then, that's the way human nature works, isn't it? We find someone who does things we wish we could and then we feel compelled to emulate them. To put them above us the perfect being. We strive to someday accomplish our own works that will rival theirs. And then, if we actually succeed in surpassing our mentor (whether they be knowing or unknowing mentors is irrelevant), we are inevitably disappointed in this mere mortal who was bested by the likes of us. Mentor is a no-win situation.
Actually, this is why we don't appreciate teachers. "Those who can't do teach." It's hard to resist falling into the trap of underappreciating someone who works for lousy pay and little appreciation... but, at the same time, this is probably the single most important profession in history.
Everything we, as both individuals and a society, know has been taught. Some of the teachings have been horribly wrong (intolerance, superstition, flat earth), but the end result is generally right.
Where would Alexander have ended up wihtout Aristotle? Michaelangelo without Ghirlandaio? Arthur without Merlin? etc.
The student may often surpass the student, but the student is nothing without the teacher. okay, so this post has been weaving in and out of topic. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that teachers - in all forms, from people we admire and emulate to the professionals who made us write vocabulary words and read Dickens, and let's not forget parents (our first and most influential techers) - are a large part of why we are who we are.
So, appreciate them. If you are disappointed when they aren't as superhuman as you thought, maybe it's that you're better than expected. Give them a break, give them a hug, give them some appreciation.
And now for something completely different:
I just used the spell check for the first time. I normally want to keep these pure with all the inherent mistakes I type. but, appreciation was giving me some concern, soI spell checked. That's when I noticed, my blog spell-checker, the one built into the blog by the blog company. well, it doesn't recognize the word blog. There's either something deeply telling about human self-knowledge, or just something extremely silly in that.
pocketspider.blogspot.com
The thing about Spider's blog is, in my mind, it's a friend's blog. If I was to reference it, it would be something like "my friend spider wrote about this thing..."
But if you asked him about Phil, he would be like, "Phil?" (Unless, of course, he has a friend named Phil, in which case he might be a little confused). We live in the same boro of New York. Maybe we even see each other on the trains sometimes. (though he seems to ride the N and I ride the R, so maybe not). And I know him - through his blog - better than most other people.
The thing is, his blog is so honest and personal and... well, for lack of a better, less cliche word, deep. I think it's posts like his that made me believe I needed to be profound and such in my blog.
But then, that's the way human nature works, isn't it? We find someone who does things we wish we could and then we feel compelled to emulate them. To put them above us the perfect being. We strive to someday accomplish our own works that will rival theirs. And then, if we actually succeed in surpassing our mentor (whether they be knowing or unknowing mentors is irrelevant), we are inevitably disappointed in this mere mortal who was bested by the likes of us. Mentor is a no-win situation.
Actually, this is why we don't appreciate teachers. "Those who can't do teach." It's hard to resist falling into the trap of underappreciating someone who works for lousy pay and little appreciation... but, at the same time, this is probably the single most important profession in history.
Everything we, as both individuals and a society, know has been taught. Some of the teachings have been horribly wrong (intolerance, superstition, flat earth), but the end result is generally right.
Where would Alexander have ended up wihtout Aristotle? Michaelangelo without Ghirlandaio? Arthur without Merlin? etc.
The student may often surpass the student, but the student is nothing without the teacher. okay, so this post has been weaving in and out of topic. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that teachers - in all forms, from people we admire and emulate to the professionals who made us write vocabulary words and read Dickens, and let's not forget parents (our first and most influential techers) - are a large part of why we are who we are.
So, appreciate them. If you are disappointed when they aren't as superhuman as you thought, maybe it's that you're better than expected. Give them a break, give them a hug, give them some appreciation.
And now for something completely different:
I just used the spell check for the first time. I normally want to keep these pure with all the inherent mistakes I type. but, appreciation was giving me some concern, soI spell checked. That's when I noticed, my blog spell-checker, the one built into the blog by the blog company. well, it doesn't recognize the word blog. There's either something deeply telling about human self-knowledge, or just something extremely silly in that.
posted by Chris at 7:52 PM
2 Comments:
Phil,
Thank you for the kind words. Your friend commented on my blog and I read what you had said. I'm touched. I'll try to keep up with the inspiration. Who's knows, it's just my thoughts and sometimes they don't always hit the mark. But such is life.
Speaking fo the R train, I do take that at times. I would get off at Steinway in Astoria. You comments about the mosaic that exists here in NYC are spot on. Non-New Yorkers don't get it.
Email me from my profile so I can email you back. Keep up the writing.
-Spider
But then, that's the way human nature works, isn't it? We find someone who does things we wish we could and then we feel compelled to emulate them. To put them above us the perfect being. We strive to someday accomplish our own works that will rival theirs. And then, if we actually succeed in surpassing our mentor (whether they be knowing or unknowing mentors is irrelevant), we are inevitably disappointed in this mere mortal who was bested by the likes of us. Mentor is a no-win situation.You know, I think this is a flawed, or imcomplete picture of a mentor relationship. Perhaps if we looked at it as "Sensei" and "Unsui" in a Zen sense it would be more fulfilling.
"Sensei", while yes means teacher, better translates as "one who is on the Way or Path." And "unsui", while on one level means student, means "truth-seeker." So the sensei shares what he knows, but he is still an "unsui" no matter where he is on the path.
So maybe instead of striving to create sometime that rivals one's mentor, if we saw that we were on the same Path as they were, then we would create something that compliments their work. For each is unique, but do we always have to quantify everything?
-Spider. . ..again
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