Monthly Archives: August 2021
A Pearl of Wisdom from Kurt Vonnegut…
Ran across this on the Internet (where else?) and wanted to share. Such wisdom by Kurt Vonnegut:
“When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject?
And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.
And he went WOW. That’s amazing!
And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”
And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before:
“I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”
And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them.
I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.” – Kurt Vonnegut
Good advice for consultants too. I continue to be amazed at how seemingly insignificant past experiences helped solve a problem. Often things I did not excel at, but like Vonnegut simply found interesting at the time. And after pursuing some of these, I improved and even became pretty good – often a pleasant surprise to me 🙂
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Tired of political “hate-mails?” Here is a solution…
This post was prompted by a particularly obnoxious political email (which I’ve dubbed “hate-mails”.) When asked to delete me from future mailings, that just escalated things. Some people are just plain rude.
With all extreme political polarization, you may have received similar unwanted missives. The simplest approach is to block the offender’s email, but in a wicked moment I decided to have some fun and take it one step further.
So I created the SH*T-list. Thanks to autoresponders, you can send an automated response. Here is mine:
Congratulations. Due to your recent “hate-mails” you are now on my personal SH*T list. It is not easy — very few people make it.
It helps if you are bigoted, arrogant, or narcissistic. Political “hate-mails” are perfect. Just being controversial is not enough, as I welcome diverse ideas and opinions when offered in a mature way.
Your message was not read, but sent to my SH*T folder. If/when the stink gets too strong, I may look at the SH*T folder to see if anyone landed there by mistake. At that time, your SH*T will be sent where it belongs — into the sewer.
I hope you understand. Feel free to wallow in your own SH*T. My life is richer and better without your SH*T in it. Have a nice day.
The precipitating “hate mail” went way beyond political humor or satire. Among the vitriol, it accused several Muslim Congresswomen of supporting genital mutilation. You can’t get much more disgusting than that.
After being asked to delete my name from his mail list, a follow up “hate mail” implied those who did not agree with the author were Nazis. Nice, huh? All this from someone I thought was an old friend.
Upon reflection, I decided NOT to proceed, and blocked the offender and moved on. If you decide to use my example, however, do so with caution as it may sever friendships or worse. But those who won’t treat people with respect are not your friends anyway. Similar to bad consulting clients.
Peace — Uncle Daryl
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