An older friend, retired now, signed-up to volunteer for a charity that required a half-day of sensitivity training. Next day, he took me aside. ”What’s wrong with the word ‘lady?’ My mother would have slapped me up-side my head if I didn’t show a woman proper respect.” I tried to explain that to be a lady a woman is expected to conduct her life in a ladylike manner, following rules she didn’t...
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Stories give us wisdom which is better than knowledge and more useful than information. In fact, I’ve come to believe that story is the way we capture wisdom and hold onto it. With that in mind, let me share a few thoughts . . . Truth gives us no comfort in time of trouble and no sense of direction. For that, you need good stories about how others handled hard times. Good stories bend the details but always tell the truth. That’s...
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Saw a bumper sticker at a stoplight today. It said WWJD? I’m not up on my texting terms. Took me a minute–What Would Jesus Do? Our computer-savy dogs are also engaged in a story that can be expressed in a single line–My Dog Ate My Homework. No further explanation needed. Narrative is a coherent system of stories, like Biblical stories or Greek myths. Meta-narrative is an understanding so deeply embedded in the culture that...
Read MoreIn the latest issue of Creative Nonfiction, Sharon DeBartolo Carmack discusses the joys and hazards of writing family narrative. That’s the currently popular way of publishing one’s family history. Think, Alex Haley’s Roots. Think facts placed in an historical context that includes setting, character and plot. Often families hire writers like Carmack to create these histories for them. Hooray. About time. Carry on. As a fan of...
Read MoreThinking about your ancestors makes you smarter! Recent research at the University of Graz has identified an “ancestor effect.” Individuals who think about their ancestors just prior to a job interview or college exam boost their chances of success. Dr. Peter Fischer hypothesizes that “thinking about one’s origins . . . provides people with a positive psychological resource.” In other words, reminding the brain of the difficulties...
Read MoreI have a friend who got a PhD based on a thesis about wisdom. Where do you find it? Can it be taught? She traveled worldwide, Lapland, Kenya, Japan, deep south of US, etc. asking who was considered wise in varying cultures and then interviewing those people. She was looking for a commonality. What made people wise? What made others call someone wise? No surprise, none of the people she interviewed considered himself/herself wise, not even...
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