The first person to march to a different drummer

I've always been a fan of Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken."  It suggests an approach to life that I aspire to:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

A traveler down that road would undoubtedly be marching to her own drumbeat.  And as I recently discovered, that image comes to us, courtesy of the Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau.  I'm no authority on Thoreau, but from what I know of him, I'd have to guess that this quote from Walden probably expresses his quintessence:

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."

So Sidharta!  I like an extended version of that passage, as well:

"Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. It is not important that he should mature as soon as an apple tree or an oak. Shall he turn his spring into summer? If the condition of things which we were made for is not yet, what were any reality which we can substitute?"

Food for thought in our Race to Nowhere culture.

You code, girl!

The Anita Borg Institute has published a list of famous women computer scientists. It's pretty impressive.

Gotta love my systers!

Staying motivated

Annapurna pointed out a nice link. 33 Ways to Stay Creative.

Le Philosophe speaks

The other day, Sidharta says to me, "In your opinion...what is life FOR?"

I thought about it for fifteen seconds. What do you answer to something like that? How do you explain that sort of thing to a kid? My first instinct was to answer something flip like "Why do you assume it's FOR anything?" My neighbor, who I told the story to later, said "It's for keeping your parents happy...that's what!"

But I held my tongue.

Instead, I said, "Why? What do YOU think it's for?"

He hesitated. "Life..." and then, I could see the wheels turning as he struggled to articulate his thoughts. "It's for learning and loving."

And I had thought about trying to answer him! What hubris!

On friendship

I am reading The History of Tom Jones, a foundling by Henry Fielding. It's a lot of fun, in an 18th Century sort of way. Full of witty quotes. I just ran across this one, though, which I really like.

I hope my friends will pardon me when I declare, I know none of them without a fault; and I should be sorry if I could imagine I had any friend who could not see mine. Forgiveness of this kind we give and demand in turn. It is an exercise of friendship, and perhaps none of the least pleasant.

Yes, indeed.

John LeCarre says...

"A good writer is an expert on nothing except himself. And on that subject, if he is wise, he holds his tongue."

His bio on his own website is crafted to this ideal.

I'm currently listening to "The Mission Song". Enjoying it, though it's a bit pedantic, and hard to follow some of the logic, given that I'm not as well acquainted with the politics of the Congo and Rwanda as I might be. Some of my difficulty might also have to do with the abridgment for audio -- I suspect they may have cut some critical details in the interest of recording time. However, the audio rendering is quite good...I really like the narrator.

Fortune cookie wisdom

OK...you may have guessed it by now...I like fortune cookies.

There were some good ones today.

I got one that read "Do it because you love it." All "between the sheets" jokes aside, I do try to live this. Or maybe I should say, I try to live a transposed version of it: "Because you love it, do it." It is important to make time for the stuff you love. Of course, this also means that my house isn't quite as clean as it would be if I loved cleaning.

Annapurna read her fortune, and immediately groaned, "oh, that's bad!" Then she cracked up. It read "Be broke, be wealthy, but don't accept mediocity". And, no, that's not my typo.

Some thoughts on writing

Just saw two wonderful quotes from Erica Jong today:

No one ever found wisdom without also being a fool. Writers, alas, have to be fools in public, while the rest of the human race can cover its tracks.

and

Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.

I suspect these two are not unrelated.

One of my favorite things

Sharney recently posted Benjamin Franklin's 13 virtues which I agree are, for the most part, things I'd like to aspire to. Order...that's a tough one! So are a lot of the others.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about today. In a similar spirit, I will post Max Erhmann's Desiderata, one of my very favorite inspirational pieces. In fact, I like it so much that I am going to type it out, rather than cut and paste it in here. Beware of typos!

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even the dull and the ignorant;

they, too, have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;

they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain and bitter;

for always there will be greater or lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals;

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.

Especially do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love;

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.