Man. A word possibly derived from the name of the great progenitor Mannus, or that ancient word manus meaning “hand.” Within this two-fold possibility we can assume that a man is the work of their own hands. This does not mean you need two whole and abled hands. This means Read more…
Would you call yourself brave or stubborn? Do you ever call yourself either of those things, or do you usually leave it up to the people around you to judge your behavior and attitude when questing? How much more might you accomplish — and how much more help might you Read more…
It is unlikely that Hans Christian Andersen would have ever intentionally written a story about conforming to social norms as killing a person’s spirit. In story after story of his own devising, we see the theme of downtrodden individuals enduring trial after trial until they ascend from the lowest ranks Read more…
I am not nor have I ever been a very big fan of Aesop. What I mean to say is that too many of our long-held misperceptions of various animals, and by extension our fellow man, are stupid-harmful. So many of his fables would progress and end in ways very different from the originals if a creature’s behavior were based in what we know now.
If a boy continued to cry wolf when there was no wolf, he would be replaced as shepherd by someone the villagers could trust. If a talking lion is willing to file down his teeth for the sake of love, essentially disabling himself, it’s because he knows something about his bride we don’t. Aesop’s fables have spent a lot of time being admired for how — in his day — he was able to so succinctly portray societal ills which continue to pervade in today’s landscape.
(more…)It’s hard asking for help. It’s humbling admitting that we aren’t 100% self-sufficient at any given moment day or night. It’s another opportunity to compare ourselves to others, perhaps even denying someone else the help we could so easily give.
We’ve talked about donors here before, right? Those teachers who come along to test us, show us who we are and give us the tools/lessons we need to complete an impending quest. We should always be our own donors first, but surely there’s room to help others.
(more…)Whenever something good happens to a person, we attribute it to either hard work or good fortune. When we perceive ourselves to be working in much the same fashion, not only do we focus our gaze more keenly upon their good fortune, but we also tend to be a little Read more…