Zero Tolerance (Absolute Truth is Disastrous)

My brother, the philosopher, by way of his bachelor's degree in philosophy, and the hundreds of books he claims to have read (which I do not believe), has talked with me about the concept of situational morality. Even though I tend to zone out when he and I are talking, largely due to his tendency to lecture me about things I could give two craps about, I listened about situational morality. It makes a lot of horse sense to me.

Another of his statements, which is so brilliant that I bet he stole it, is "hell is other people." He exemplifies that statement in the way he interacts, he can be that hellish other person, as can I, and most other people can be. If we were totally honest with each other, about how annoying we are to each other, the world would be at war, on an interpersonal level. I feel that God had an obvious good idea when he allowed us to keep our thoughts to ourselves. We would be so pissed off that other people dared to think what they thought about us, that we might completely forget that they also loved, respected, and even liked us. It is far better, in my opinion, to put up with, and find the joy, in dealing with each other. Focus on the positives, and yes, ignore the negatives, when they are small enough to do so. Do not look for perfection from other humans. You do not have it to offer in return.

Do not think that you can hide behind simply being honest, when you choose to hurt or dominate people, because they will see that you are using the truth as a sword, instead of as a flashlight. That will be part of the truth about you, and it will be a sword against you. Even though I am a hypocrite for only quoting the bits of the Bible that work for me here goes: "judge not, lest you be judged." In my own words, quit trying to look down at people for being human, and stop trying to be so absolute in how you see things.

I am not saying to give up on your standards, but understand that if you are judgmental, you will be perceived as intolerant, and condescending. In short you will have become part of the communication problems between you and others who have differing opinions. If people feel that you look down on them, or simply impose your world view on their lives, why the heck would they open themselves up to that? What's the payoff?

To Bee or Not to Bee

To Bee or not to Bee

I was raised as a worker bee. I realize in hindsight, that the work ethic instilled in me by my parents and environment presupposed that I would find an organization to employ me. I cannot recall a single discussion with anyone, during my childhood or adolescence, that ever even toyed with the concept that I might use my own creativity to self-design a legal avenue for my livelihood. There was a clear expectation that I find someone or somewhere that had work I could do.

We are all products of our environment. My formative years in Joliet, Illinois, during the 1960's and 1970s were impoverished, but tempered by the fact that there were lots of jobs. I hated being broke, and my family needed the money, so I worked a lot, from grade school, passing papers, through high school, working thirty or more hours a week, as a stock boy at the grocery store. I was so tired at school, working half way through the night. I'm sure that I was only half the student I could have been. I was not thinking about the value of my education. I was focused on fattening up my next check.

I do not recall even entertaining any thought, of ever really being wealthy during my entire upbringing. I was too busy working. I felt very fortunate when I could get enough extra work to make another fifty bucks. That really seemed like big money back then.

I was a total worker bee. I just wanted to find a company to work for.

It was completely beyond my schema to consider that I could create a business of my own. The concept that marketable creativity could emanate from me, was in a pre-embryonic state, in my mind.

It took a sea change in how I viewed myself to go to college. I was not ready when I got out of high school. I still chose to stay close to my mental constriction as a worker bee, and chose to pursue an education degree. I do have to take a moment right here, to say that I never regretted my choice to be a teacher.

As I began to matriculate through college, I became aware of the dramatic differences in personal expectation that people had for their futures. It became obvious to me that some of the people I had come to know had literally been raised with the expectation that they would assume positions of leadership, early in their adulthood. I was fascinated by the contrast in our expectations and perspectives. I had been raised with the expectation that I would seek out someone to lead me, and sign my checks of course. They fully expected that they would be the leaders and check signers.

My paradigm has changed. I still work my day job, but work on creative writing, during my down time. I am pursuing my masters', degree, as an administrator. Go figure. The years have changed me, and my perspective.

I happen to have found the children's book writer within me.

I see value in doing what my muse requires. My actions are not always like the worker bee anymore, I have sought to fulfill my own vision, as opposed to laboring exclusively on someone else's. I have unleashed my first and second books into the world. My metamorphosis continues. I hope you enjoy Willie's Dad, the author's reading, and invite you to tell those people who could find value or a measure of redemption in the story.