Passion Bubbles
This morning I am contemplating a few things out of recently read books. One out of the great book I finished a couple of weeks ago, Red Dress In Black and White by Elliot Ackerman where it was said, “Family should be at the center of who you are, not the circumference.” The others were by Mark Twain in Volume 3 of his autobiography. Twain spoke of “The things that take up the spare room in my heart.” He also said, “I refuse to take part in things where my heart is indifferent.” This made me think about all the, what I call my “passion bubbles,” I have. These would really be those things that take up the spare room in my heart. This, in turn, got me to thinking about our hearts capacity. Just how much room is in our hearts?
Twain had decided not to take part in things where his heart was indifferent. I consider this a pretty good rule of thumb. It’s usually easy to tell when I am indifferent; I’m not going to comment or not going to get heavily involved. This idea that Elliot Ackerman put in his book of family at the center and not at the circumference is a really good metaphor of how I want to arrange my passion bubbles. Our family should be at the core of what is given prime space in our hearts along with those other prime time passions we have. Then we can fill in the spare space. Interestingly, we also consider the heart being limitless in its ability to love, but we need to realize our limits on the number of passion bubbles we can support.
Each of us has a unique drive to make a contribution and fulfill a purpose. When we combine our passions with our strengths, we can achieve things never even imagined. But, it would probably do us well to consider Twain’s rule of not wasting too much of our heart’s spare room with those things we are indifferent to. This will also give us the room for keeping our family at the center. It’s about having an uncluttered heart.
Mixed Humanity
There is no ideal person or leader. Each of us has a soul, emotions, a destiny, feelings, personality, and style. We are actually very powerful algorithmic and data-fed machines. As biological humans we need to take time to think, create, and develop our mixed humanity. In Volume Two of the Autobiography of Mark Twain, Twain discussed “observing mixed humanity.” Twain observed how different each and every one of us is. Next time you are in a group take a moment and just observe each person and their interactions – it’s amazing.
This mix of humanity is such a powerful thing. Those leaders that I put in the great column learned their traits from previous leaders who modeled for them. We then continue to pass along their wisdom to the next aspiring generation of leaders, entry-level employee, apprentice, or intern. Make no mistake, someone is observing us and our role in humanity. If we humble ourselves and work by pulling each other across the finish line together, then I believe our significance will multiply tenfold.
Happy Accidents
I am just about half way through Volume Two of the Autobiography of Mark Twain. As I already stated in Acquired Skills it is an is an incredibly fascinating and tough read all at the same time. To be sure, the beloved humorist keeps the reader laughing as he discusses for an entire chapter about the fly being the only species that humans cannot devise a way to exterminate. When you think about the fly, that is true. But Twain also make us think with his anecdotes. One such anecdote is his discussion of accidents. Twain reminded us “There are no accidents, all things have a deep and calculated purpose; sometimes the methods employed by Providence seem strange and incongruous, but we have only to be patient and wait for the result: then we recognize that no others would have answered the purpose, and we are rebuked and humbled.” Twain calls these “happy accidents” in his autobiography. Some might call these luck, but really they are, as he defines them, accidents. Twain even defines accidents as being an event that happens at no fault or premeditated thought or action of someone else.
“There are those who imagine that the unlucky accidents of lifelife’s “experiences”are in some way useful to us. I wish I could find out how. I never know one of them to happen twice. They always change off and swap around and catch you on your inexperienced side.“
Mark Twain
When I began to think about it I could come up with accidents that have happened in my life that led to some incredible opportunities. I’ll bet you can too. Twain told the story of being in New Orleans and wanting to learn to be a steam boat pilot. He asked a captain who told him “no,” but then the captain developed pain in his body that kept him from being able to pilot. Long story short, he sat in the pilot’s house and supervise Twain piloting the boat for him. Thus, Twain became an apprentice, learned to pilot the steam ship, and became a steam boat pilot. Sure seems like a happy accident to me. In fact, that whole adventure started out with Twain accidentally finding $50 in the street! The great humorist and author taught us, “Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.” Bob Ross taught us, “we don’t make mistakes, we just have happy accidents.” Happy accidents can give us a chance to improve or go down a new path. They are a chance to create something we didn’t even imagine before. Happy accidents can give us the opportunity to learn, a chance to grow, and a chance for you to look at new perspectives. They can turn something average into a happier thing.
Acquired Skills
On Monday of this week I finished Volume One of the Autobiography of Mark Twain. As I have told others, it is one of the most fascinating and toughest reads all at the same time. One of the things I wasn’t sure of at first, but grew to love was how Twain chose to write his autobiography in a way no one ever had before. He chose to dictate it, so it is very conversational. And he chose to write it as thoughts came to him and not in any chronological order. As he put it, he would talk about something until it didn’t interest him any more and then he would go on to something else. To me it is great because it eliminates those stretches that get long and drawn out in most autobiographies and biographies. I’m not sure, however, that anyone but Twain could pull this off. I’m just getting started in Volume Two, but it is just as great.
Needless to say, I took a bunch of notes and have lots of thoughts to develop. The first was Twain speaking of being proud of our acquirements. Twain said, “An acquirement is something you’ve worked hard to master.” I loved this because it had nothing to do with things or possessions, but with skills and knowledge. I like Merriam-Webster’s definition of acquirement: “a skill of mind or body usually resulting from continued endeavor.” Twain refers to many skills he worked hard to acquire and those of others. I believe need to contemplate the acquired skills we need to developed in ourselves or help to develop in others. These are the skills and expertise obtained through education and/or experience.
I also believe we should view all those things we call soft skills, hard skills, professional skills, or whatever the buzz word of the day is, acquired skills. To me this acknowledges that there is work to be done for acquirement. The “continued endeavor” from the Merriam-Webster definition. What acquired skills must you nurture and develop over time? Better yet, how can you help others nurture and develop acquired skills?
Byron's Babbles 
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