A Dream – 45 Years Later

Forty five years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. stood before more than 200,000 in Washington and delivered one of the greatest speeches of all time. It stands for itself even to this day. The values, goals and message embedded within King’s words and eloquent delivery can still guide and inspire us today as we deal with injustices all around the globe. Thus, the most appropriate gesture to mark the occasion seems to simply post the speech itself. If you have never seen or heard the speech in its entirety, or if it has been a while, I wholeheartedly encourage you to take the time to view it here.

For the full text of the speech and an audio playback visit American Rhetoric, top 100 speeches.

“We cannot walk alone…
And as we walk we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead…
we cannot turn back.”

Kate DiCamillo

Good fiction written for children is simply good fiction for all of us. While I have never read Harry Potter (collective gasp noted), perhaps the intensity surrounding all of Rowling’s books supports my initial point. The case I do have in hand are the works of Kate DiCamillo. If you’ve been paying any attention to the Currently… page you know I have read two of her books in the past few months. The first, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, was recommended by a friend. Once I started I could not put it down. With captivating writing she weaves a story that is puzzling, wonderful, tragic and hopeful. Through it all, Edward discovers what love is. While the book may be primarily intended for a grade 5 or so audience, the story and the writing speak easily to readers of all ages. Mainly, it explores the barriers and prejudgment we erect so that we might have happiness contrived (contentment), rather than genuine joy and love. It lays bare the plain truth that joy and love often involve risk, heart ache and loss. However, this story also reveals that the rewards one finds in pursuit of joy and love are infinite compared to the outlay, especially when one is in the correct state of mind. Hundreds of self-help books, and adult paper backs seek to capture the same thing, and do not even come close to the beauty, warmth, honesty and creativity of DiCamillo’s writing.

I thought so much of Miraculous Journey that it wasn’t long before I took up another of DiCamillo’s books: The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread. Firstly, fantastic title. Then, any book beginning with an impressive epigraph, as The Tale of Despereaux does, is worth diving into. Again, the main audience may be elementary school students, but the exploration of prejudgment, love, and commitment is right for any age. This story has a special twist in that DiCamillo carries on a running aside, or conversation, linearly to the story with the reader. These side conversations are aimed at children but her voice captured me right away. It almost feels like she wrote the story for me personally. She also throws in the theme of light and dark – exposing the struggle for some sort of balance between the two.

The best things about reading DiCamillo is the balance it brings. I try to read from different genres, fiction, and non-fiction – it can all begin to blur at times, and even become a bit arduous. But a well written children’s book is the perfect balance to help me see what great writing actually is, and to keep me loving reading. It allows me to go back to reading adult fiction, biographies, non-fiction, and professional texts refreshed. I highly recommend you find a book of hers this summer, search out a quiet spot and let your imagination run. Lacking that, there are hundreds of other great children’s books out there, I hear that Potter stuff isn’t so bad. Crack one open, and fall in love with reading again.

Any recommendations from you? Of course you have some, leave a comment below or send me an email.

Love is ridiculous.
But love is also wonderful. And powerful. – The Tale of Despereaux

Gift of New Friends

Being the first in a series of every day posts to mark Être ou Avoir’s first year.

The topic of friendship in current times has previously received a brief introduction on this blog. An event on Friday night created a new point of discussion within this topic. I was brought to a birthday party as a gift. A friend of a colleague was having a 30th birthday party, and he asked all the invitees to bring a specific gift. He insisted that they not get junk he would never use, no knick-knacks that might be good for a laugh and nothing more, no meaningless consumer products. Instead, he asked people to bring him a new shiny new friend.

When I was first approached about being a gift at a birthday party I had some of the initial reservations that might materialize in anyone’s mind. However, once I was assured there was no physical or intimate sacrifice required I was quite intrigued by the concept. While the current trend appears to be adding more facebook friends, myspace connections, or search for the next relationship with the computer as a mediator, this birthday celebration was about adding friends in person. Even though I had never heard of this concept before, it seemed refreshingly balanced and made great sense. We learn more about ourselves when we take on real life interactions, meet new people and try to present ourselves as who we really are in real time, who we really want to be, and without the constant editing, manufacturing, and glossing over that is online profiles. I think it is safe to say that from a domestic social standpoint – thus, excluding any of my adventures abroad, and the times I have started at a new school or job – I have not met more new people in a single night than I did on Friday. It was a lesson in myself I had not had in a while. With no prejudgments and given a blank canvas on which to present one’s self, it is amazing how one can struggle between being the person who is comfortable, and being the person one wants to be. Happily, for me at least, I was not concerned with what I have (avoir) or what I do. Gladly, I was not forced to speak about what I “do” too often, as the group of people were interesting enough, and respectful enough to not linger on traditional topics of first-time conversation. Also, trying to avoid hypocrisy, I also made sure to never ask others what they “do”. Thus, when asked if Friday night was more about Être or was it more about Avoir, I can say with a smile that it was almost all about being. I smile because when meeting people for the first time I firmly believe there should be little in the way of having, and the focus should be on being.

It remains to be seen if Friday was a one-time connection with a host of people, or whether longer lasting connections will arise. Subtle feelings of a sports team try-out no doubt linger when one is presented as a shiny new friend. Yet, I can say with confidence, it was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed and encourage more people to try on some level. In fact, I hope to give it a try one day as the gift receiver.

Thanks to AS for taking me as the gift, and thanks to R for having the birthday. Kudos to both, and everyone there, for being involved in an event structured around creating an environment of inclusion and avoiding prejudgment: good stuff!

Let’s also call this the second installment on ramblings regarding balanced friendship as I try to arrange my thoughts and write a piece on the topic that isn’t complete drivel.

January 15

A short while ago I posed a question on this blog: is it enough just to be a good person? It is a question that drifts into my thoughts from time to time. I have also been known to wonder it allowed and discuss (or try to discuss) it with others on occasion. But, it was only this month that I put it up on this space for the first time. Coincidentally – for I did not plan it this way – this month also marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day, recognizing someone who went far beyond just being a good person. It being King’s birthday today, I went to reflect on a few of his thoughts and perhaps post a quote here in a small gesture of acknowledgment. One particular phrase of his surfaced and made me think of the question, and made me think about writing more.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.”

While this quotation can be scrutinized from different angles or called upon to draw credence for different causes, for now, I am going to use it to speculate that King’s response to the question at hand would be “No”. The reasoning is it seems possible to lead a “good” life and yet remain silent. One can recycle, not commit crimes, show kindness to all, respect others, and strive to be fair and honest in everything that directly connects to one’s life. In doing all these things, one would appear to be a good person. This quote suggests this is not enough. While I might be kind, and fair to all those I interact with, King seems to suggest that I am not really living unless I speak up and act about the disrespect and inequities that exist in how others treat one another – something that matters. His thoughts might even be extrapolated to a current issue that seems to matter very much: the environment. While one may recycle and cut down on pollution production, the quote implies it is not enough unless one speaks out, informs others and actively encourages more people to care about the environment.

It is likely that King’s words are specifically directed at those who turn a blind eye to prejudice – one of the greatest evils in the world. In this light, the quote is even stronger evidence that he is calling upon people to do more than just lead a good life. One may be fair and unprejudiced to all those one has direct contact with – but this is not enough. Prejudgement is such a horrible weight on our communities and societies that one must find ways to search it out, destroy it, and actively work to remove it from those who it clings to.

This is not an attempt to answer the question outright. Rather, it is part of a continued attempt to speculate on whether this question even has an answer. Further, it should not be construed as an attempt to specifically define what King was trying to say. His words and actions are best left for each of us to interpret ourselves and from them build our own thoughts. Then – and most importantly – it is up to each of us to find a way to act.