Brilliant!
(a kwansaba)
As I read, and travel, and explore,
I find tidbits of thought before me.
Each piece stands alone, waiting for me.
They simply appear in any small corner.
You’ll find them too; rules are simple:
Look, not see; Listen, not hear; Feel
Not Touch; Savor, not Taste or Smell.
Here are some tidbits that for one reason or another just simply added
to my understanding of the world.
Why sure, I’d be happy to share them.
Anne Lamott— You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do. (from The Sun, March 2005, 48) Our paradigms limit our ability to see and understand others, not just in what we study, but in what we believe and how we live.
Pete Peterson. I was a jazz-challenged person—until I
met Pete Peterson. He is a brilliant
pianist working in
Boulevard. A wonderfully
refreshing journal of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Edited by Richard Burgin and published
locally by
G. K. Chesterton—Suppose some mathematical creature from the moon were to reckon up the human body; he would at once see the essential thing about it was that it was duplicate. A man is two men, he on the right resembling him on the left. Having noted that there was an arm on the right and one on the left, a leg on the right and a leg on the left, he might go further still and find on each side the same number of fingers, the same number of toes, twin eyes, twin ears, twin nostrils, and even twin lobes of the brain. At last, he would take it as a law; and then, where he found a heart on one side, would deduce that there was another heart on the other. And just then, where he most felt he was right, he would be wrong. (from The Sun, March 2005, 48) There is always a chance that you are wrong. Too many times we forget that.
The Nobel Prize—the story goes that Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, was presumed to have died. A French newspaper carried his obituary under the headline “The Merchant of Death is Dead,” and vilified the man for building a fortune by “finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before.” Alas, poor Nobel was very much alive and was deeply troubled that his legacy would be one of death and destruction. Therefore, he left his estate worth the equivalent today of hundreds of millions of dollars to the establishment of prizes recognizing human achievement in various categories, including peace. Wow.
A sample of my
favorite Nobel Prize winners from before I was born, in no particular order: Jane Addams (1931, Peace—whose work in the
slums of Chicago showed great respect for humanity), Theodore Roosevelt (1906,
Peace—not really a peaceful guy, but a man who emulated what leadership is all
about), Ernest Hemingway (1954, Literature—his biography is more exciting to me
than anything he wrote), John Steinbeck (1961, Literature—his work is
illustrated richly with the struggles of humanity), Martin Luther King (1964,
Peace—genuine peace—‘nuf said), Woodrow Wilson (1919,
Peace—classic example of moral idealism), Albert Einstein (1921, Physics—probably
one of the most brilliant human beings ever), Pearl Buck (1938, Literature—I
haven’t read much of her work, but her work shows how family and family
struggles span time and culture), T. S. Eliot (1948, Literature—The Dry Salvages comes to mind, where the
river is called “a strong brown god”), Albert Schweitzer (1952, Peace—great humanitarian). Now, if you don’t know why these people were
given one of humanity’s highest honors, then you have a little homework to do. Then figure out which one of these Nobel
Laureates is from
A sample of my
favorite brilliant people who DIDN’T win “the prize”—My
two favorite poets—Carl Sandburg and
Robert Frost. Sandburg was the urban poet, and Frost was
the rural poet. They were
contemporaries. Sandburg’s description
of Chicago (hog butcher for the world) captures the grit of urban life, while
Frost’s descriptions of the New England countryside (two roads diverged in a
yellow wood) captured not only the rugged beauty, but the way it affected those
who lived there (I took the one less traveled by/And it has made all the
difference). Upton Sinclair—Progressive author who exposed the filthy practices
of the meatpacking industry (read The
Jungle sometime, but not right after lunch). Became a Socialist politician later in his
life, but never lost his sense of humanity.
Frank Lloyd Wright—brilliant architect
(creepy at a level, but brilliant) who not only designed homes for his clients,
but all the furnishings in the home; in short, he designed a lifestyle rather
than just a building (form and function are one). Others on my list: Langston
Hughes, Thomas Hart Benton (the
artist, not the politician), Augustus
St. Gaudens, Rosa
Parks, and many others. More to come….
A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT FOR THE INQUISITIVE AND INSIGHTFUL…
Yes, you’ve lived here all your life—but have you been paying
attention?!?
Ten Experiences to Appreciate the Brilliance around You!
1. quotes
from Albert Einstein (if E=MC2 is the only quote
you
know from him, then you’re missing out big time!)
2. the
poetry of Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)—“if
you compare yourself
to others, you may become vain or bitter…”
3. go to the
by
4. Have you actually read the
words of Martin
Luther King Jr.?
If not,
you're missing out on something important.
5. You must spend at least three hours at the City Museum.
Do not leave until something makes you say “Oh My Gosh!”
6. Figure out who William Marion Reedy was.
7. Try real soul food (alternate
assignment: visit the Schnucks store in
and stroll through the meat department and find
five things you’ve never tried before—
bonus points if you actually take it home and
cook it)
8.
Figure out who Emil Frei was, and then find a
place where you can see his work.
9.
Find the monument to the Great Mound (as in Indian Mound, and, no, it is
not part of
Face 1654 North Broadway in
Then turn around. See if you can figure it out.
Cheaters can use Google “street view” to do
this. Scholars hop in their cars.
10.
Why is