Unusual? Ordinary? Or, just plain stupid?

If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.
   --Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker.

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      Do you agree with Mr. Rohn? Think fast--aye or nay?

      Now, ask yourself if the answer might depend on the context...still aye? Nay?

      Thinking about context--gee, now I feel like a politician...or, a philosopher...or, an English teacher....or, perhaps, an author?

      Characters cannot, any more than you or me, exist without any context. Sure, there are things that need no context...truths like the laws of thermodynamics or gravity or arithmetic...but how much richer when they're inserted into a particular context. The young physics professor who is brilliant but tends to mess up simple math problems because they're too simple because he's already thinking about something else...so he adds when he should multiply, takes 7 from 13 and gets 8*, and whose students all love the fact that he reheats his morning coffee with one of the lasers that he "borrowed" from the optics division. And, every day, holds his coffee cup up, wrinkles his brow, and intones some blend of physics and metaphysics along the lines of, "Gravity--the key to keeping hot liquids safely inside an open-ended container."

See? Thermodynamics, gravity, and math--fine by themselves...but, a particular context makes those ideas come alive!

So, back to the lead-in quote: do you go for the unusual, or for the ordinary? In writing, I think itsa combo of both...if all I aim for is uniqueness, so what have I achieved? Sure, it's off-beat, but it needs to be set in the context of the ordinary for the true oddness to stand out. In life, I think trying to be outstanding is an admirable goal, but if you cannot also be happy with the many ordinary things all around, then yer gonna be outstandingly unhappy. Too many superstars burn out (Michael Jackson, anyone?); geniuses crash (really, look at Bobby Fischer of chess fame); and lotsa great athletes end up in jail with DUI/drug/reckless-endangerment charges.

The way I see it--if you feel called to pursue something outstanding, great, go for it--but stay rooted in who you are and where you come from. Surround yrself with folks who are willing to deliver the necessary quantity of dope-slaps to keep you humble! (Thnx, Tommy and Ray, for that vivid imagery--whatsa brother for, eh?) Or, be stupid: shake off those who'd keep you humble, and soar with the eagles...for awhile.

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*if you have no problem with this, please close this web page, walk slowly to the nearest doorframe, and rapidly decelerate your skull thereupon repeatedly until I feel better!