A Birthday Surprise

 What do the following have in common: A word of wisdom from a friend; a quote from a late Victorian journalist, philosopher, theologian , and literary and art critic; a cover song originally written by Alanis Morissette, and my birthday? A valuable lesson in perspective, that’s what. The first and final points  of comparison serve as bookends but for our purposes, let’s start in the middle.

Recently my reading regimen has not been as disciplined and I’ve been taking a bit of a shotgun approach to material mostly because I am not able to concentrate on reading and writing since losing my position at the University. Life is not the same. But having said that much I’m already getting ahead of myself. My reading has been rather sporadic and I’ve grown to love my kindle and am increasingly appreciating technological tools such as talk to text (which is how this entry is being written). In recent days I’ve returned to reading the captivating work of GK Chesterton. The other day I posted to this blog a rather lengthy quote that was a beautiful demonstration of perspective. I did not seek out the quote, nevertheless it came to my attention as I was reading. Perhaps the reason I caught my attention was because this week I have been attempting to refine my own perspective, the way I view the world and live in it. So when someone like Chesterton shows something as ordinary as the name of Smith from another perspective, I had a true Gomer Pyle moment. It just reinforced my exercise to slow down and think and try to see things differently.

On my very long daily commute I’ve been spending a significant amount of time with a certain musician whose talents are quite extraordinary. To be clear, I speak of Steven Wilson. A few years ago he released an album in which he had no original material except for the arrangements as he recorded cover songs. In the same sort of arresting fashion experienced in reading, when I came across Wilson’s version of “Thank You” originally written and performed my Alanis Morissette, I could not stop hitting repeat. I won’t take the time to rehearse the background material that inspired Alanis Morrissette to write the song however I will say that it to underscored lesson I was learning in perspective. And gave reason to live another day. One might say it has become the theme song of the lesson.

The first and final points in our list of comparisons actually create a kind of contrast. Today is my birthday and I write this bringing all these thoughts together in one place. That would be the last point. The first point of contrast comes from was a word of wisdom from a friend. See, a couple years ago my life took a near tragic left turn and I’ve been dealing with the aftermath since then. I not only lost my position at the University but I was also two classes into my doctoral program and since the university was paying for my education, I could longer continue. So 20 years of life as I knew it just vaporized. It’s the same kind of heartbreak as parting from someone, wondering if you will ever see them again. Yet you hope. 

Making a long story short, I was at work this last week in my current place of employment, when I familiar face came in. This gentleman was once a student at the University where I once worked and we developed a special kind of friendship. Sometimes seeing familiar face from that kind of context is a reminder of the kind of pain that I’ve been dealing with. Nevertheless in a quiet moment I shared a few things with him and after listening he said the most profound thing that I’ve been dwelling on since he said it. He said “maybe this isn’t about you but about someone else, or even other people.” There it is again: perspective. Like being in orbit—from such a place, all problems on earth have become minuscule or even disappear altogether. 

So this week I’ve been learning in small measures the freedom that taking a new perspective brings. A kind of birthday surprise. If anything it certainly helps to break out of self-centeredness which is necessary especially since I am my own worst enemy. So I’d like to close with a quote from another philosopher because it to fit in coming of course from a spontaneous reading therefore I think it’s necessary to share it here to sort of serve as a drawstring to bring all of these events together in one place. I give you Epictetus from his “Discourses,” chapter 3.

“But what is philosophy? Doesn’t it simply mean preparing ourselves for what may come? Don’t you understand that really amounts to saying that if I would so prepare myself to endure, then let anything happen that will? Otherwise, it would be like the boxer exiting the ring because he took some punches. Actually, you can leave the boxing ring without consequence, but what advantage would come from abandoning the pursuit of wisdom? So, what should each of us say to every trial we face? This is what I’ve trained for, for this my discipline!”