Hello my friends,
This last week has been one of the most calm and interesting for me. I am happy and grateful for that. One of the thoughts that has stayed in my mind is what I want to share with you today because it affects us all.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said
“Nature makes fifty poor melons for one that is good, and shakes down a tree full of gnarled, wormy, unripe crabs, before you can find a dozen dessert apples. Nature works very hard, and only hits the white [of the bull’s eye] once in a million throws. In mankind, she is contented if she yields one master in a century. The more difficulty there is in creating good men, the more they are used when they come.”
Our society is getting increasingly complex and human interaction getting more complicated as we get more interconnected. This interaction has given birth what is now known as the cancel culture. Cancel culture comes short of standard because of its definition; cancel culture empowers the mob/masses to act in unison and ostracise anyone who come short of whatever prevailing common definition of the masses per time. It is appalling that a person/group can be cancelled. When they are cancelled, this is an example of what happens. Unfortunately, a solution is not in sight. And that brings me to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote.
Nature works very hard, and only hits the white [of the bull’s eye] once in a million throws. In mankind, she is contented if she yields one master in a century.
The solution to cancel culture is deliverance from the group think that powers the culture. Such deliverance means the birth of more independent thinking. The lesser we have people who can think for themselves without the influence of the their next the more cancelling we have in the years ahead. And that’s dangerous. Unfortunately, we only have few people who are that way. They are the white hit my nature once in a million throw. That makes me want to cry.
Emerson continued,
“All revelations, whether of mechanical or intellectual or moral science, are made not to communities, but to single persons. All the marked events of our day, all the cities, all the colonisations, may be traced back to their origin in a private brain. All the feats which make our civility were the thoughts of a few good heads. All the feats which make our civility were the thoughts of a few good heads.”
Our society have progressed this far because of the courage a few good heads who chose to look beyond the group think, deter the cancel culture and chose rather to have a thought of their own. But we don’t have a lot of them around. Everyone has joined the the masses because it is the most convenient.
Be An Individual
It is difficult to be an individual in our world today. Tens and potentially hundreds of groups are out their today that want to force you to join them. They question you for not having an opinion about a thing, they reprimand you for not joining the cancelling process of another person/group and they alienate you for not identifying with them.
If you are that person, you are An Individual. And you are good being that person. You have done great for not allowing their pressure to force you to join on. Continue. You are the exception and the manifestation of the best of nature. You are An Individual.
Ideas To Challenge Your Mind
If you ask for generic help, you will get generic help. Help that lacks insight and is full of platitude. Best help is specific. And it starts with being specific around where you need help.
You are what you do. Not what you say you'll do.
Joshua Medcalf on grit:
"The irony is that this ‘fake it till you make it’ tactic is the exact opposite of how truly successful people live. They live with authentic vulnerability because they know that the world always connects more with your grit than your shine. They might show up for the shine, but they will stay because of your grit."
Things I am exploring right now
Thinking about how to be An Individual
Reading this article - Emerson on Individual Integrity and Resisting the Tyranny of the Masses
Listening to this podcast - Justin Su’a: Peak Mental Performance