Sunday, February 19, 2006

Dare to be naïve. R. Buckminster Fuller


There are questions that need to be asked and the first one, of course, is who in their right mind would choose to go by "Buckminster"? Makes you wonder what the R stands for. (And I can google it myself, thank you.)*

In a moment of randomness, I posted the following on blue-beta: I need a new personality. Any suggestions? I didn't think about it much after, at least not the posting of the question. I have thought about ways that I need to change. And then twice in one day I was asked what I meant by needing a new personality. One person argued that my personality is fine just where it is. When I challenged him and his lack of knowing my personality, he made a rather convincing argument. Point for him. But I still am making a list of things I need to do/be to like myself better and make myself more likeable to other people. Because I've decided that sooner than later I need to join the world. I've heard that it can be a nice place to live. So the following are elements of my personality that I am changing or need to embrace or whatever. Feel free to make more suggestions; just note that number six is forgiveness, so if I don't talk to you for a few days, I'm working on number six.

1. "Dare to be naïve." A mon avis, there is too much emphasis on knowing in my life. I don't want to be ignorant or innocent and I think I often come across much more than I actually am or know. It's okay to be good; it's okay to have faith; it's okay to hope. At least, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.

2. "Dare to be vulnerable." This has become the mantra of my counselor. I have to admit that I can't do everything. I have to admit that I can't always be the best or the brightest. I have to admit that at some point in my life I'm going to fail.

3. "Be willing." This follows the first two. I am reluctant to embrace change or embrace situations even an inch out of my comfort zone. Tonight a friend asked what adventures I was planning on having in the next six months. He then defined adventure as stepping outside of my comfort zone. That definition handy, I told him no adventures for me.

4. Make it to number six so that I can list forgiveness.

5. Be more organized. I keep forgetting papers, which isn't like me. Or I just don't give myself enough time, which is like me, but I'm too tired lately to get everything done. Waiting to need number two.

6. Forgive.

7. Forget

8. Remember.

9. Stay connected.

10. Love. Dare to love and to let people love me.


*I looked him up on Wikipedia. His first name was Richard. And this was one of my favorite postage stamps of all time.

3 comments:

B.G. Christensen said...

Not a bad list. I should do several of those things myself. Just don't forget to use #6 on yourself as you're figuring the rest out.

Aislin said...

My first question is how you ended up with #1, perhaps because people tend to assume I'm naive whether I am or not.
There is always faith, and I don't mean the kind you develop and train into being. You have faith you know. I don't know that we ever KNOW we know anything. At least, I've been contradicted and proved wrong too often to forget it. But we can believe we are right, have conviction that we know, which makes it reality for us. Maybe when we accept that knowing is really having faith in our knowing, we can work on the other kind.

Saule Cogneur said...

I feel like an idiot. I am well acquainted with Mr. Buckminster. There is a whole genereation of compounds named after him. Yes, I'm telling you this fact because I know you've always wanted to know the source of the name "fullerenes." You're welcome.

 

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