Work copied: Pride and Prejudice Chapter 18
I loved Week 4 of Module 4 of the Praxis boot camp.
My favorite content was “Everything is a Remix” the series.
It challenged me to let go of the ideas that I hang on to and allow them to flourish in the world around me.
When we hang on to ideas that we believe we are entitled to, we squelch their creative potential in the lives of others.
More of my musings in the video below:
Category: What I’m Reading
Day 15: Musings on Intentionality
Work Copied: Pride and Prejudice Chapter 16
What makes you unique? Have you ever stopped to think about it?
I wonder sometimes at the lack of purpose that many people have. This lack doesn’t come from there not being a purpose in the world for them, but because they simply haven’t stopped to think.
In this world, it pays to be intentional. In fact, if you don’t want to get swept along with the wishes of culture, it is imperative to be intentional.
Take the time to stop and think about your place in the world. What do you want to do? What is your personal vision for the world? What can you do today to fulfill that vision?
I’m not saying that purpose is always some clearly-defined light at the end of the tunnel. However, purpose only increases as you self-evaluate. Otherwise, you’ll simply be dragged through life without impacting anyone.
Day 8: My Favorite Spare Time Activities
Work Copied: Pride and Prejudice Chapter 9
In Pride and Prejudice, every woman was expected to be accomplished in certain select leisure activities. Today, spare time fun varies more. Here are my favorite things to do when I am not working:
- Read. This one comes and goes. Sometimes I have much more time to read than others. I constantly consume content, but it’s not always in the form of reading. However, when I get a good book, I’m glued to it.
- Play Music. I love any musical instruments and I’ll often be found with a ukulele or a violin. Otherwise, I spend time at the piano or any other instrument that happens to be around.
- Table Games. My family has always thrived on spending time in some good competition. My favorites change often, but right now I love Scattergories, 3-13, Quirkle, and
- Making Cards. I love breaking out my crafty side once in awhile. I prioritize sending handmade cards and letters to people I know, and it’s fun to let my creative side flow through a simple activity.
- Woodworking. I haven’t had as much experience as some of my siblings, but give me a piece of wood, a sander, and some stain, and I’ll entertain myself for hours.
- Taking walks. Actually, walks have sentimental value to me because that’s what I have done most of my life to spend time with my mother. They are also my favorite way to clear my head if I need a break. It’s amazing what a short walk will do for your ideas!
This list varies over time, and it’s not like these are my only leisure activities. But that doesn’t change my love for spare time!
Day 6: My First Week at a Praxis Apprenticeship
Work Copied: Pride and Prejudice Chapter 7
I have one day left in my first week at Discover Praxis, an apprenticeship program for young people that offers an alternative to college.
I am the 10th employee, and the youngest on the team. This week has been the most fast-paced learning experience of my life, as I integrate onto the team, learn the ins and outs of marketing, and explore some sales and customer service aspects as well.
It is highly in my advantage that I am already passionate about the product Praxis offers. The work that I did while originally researching the program is paying off as I fill in the gaps with customer service and social media marketing.
I’m coming to the conclusion that every young person should work in a startup as part of their education. Notice that I said “startup”. The experience is just not the same at an established company.
At a young, flourishing, fast-growing company, apprentices have the opportunity to have a direct impact on the future of a company. This is not impossible at a large corporation; but more often than not, the big guys are the ones that make the big decisions, and the lesser men are left under the rug.
Another advantage to working in a startup is the fact that young ideas are not only appreciated, but needed and used. There’s nothing that grows an apprentice more than to see an idea come to life with the work of a team.
In a startup, young adults get the chance to explore every area of a business. In a large company, everyone tends to stay in his own department.
It’s fun and invigorating to have a direct impact on the growth of something big. It’s also hard work, but that’s what makes it fun. Here’s to the next weeks and months of my apprenticeship!
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Day 4: the Apprentice Mindset
Work Copied: Pride and Prejudice Chapter 5
There’s always room for improvement.
I feel that deeply, having just started apprenticing at a startup. When you are young in a trade, you pull information from those around you constantly. You listen closely, seeking for nuggets in every conversation.
This apprentice mindset is like a greenhouse for professional growth. That’s why you see young people quickly rise from being relatively unskilled to carrying themselves confidently in the workplace.
I feel like many people lose this apprentice mindset somewhere in life. Man hits a point in his life where he feels he has reached the summit of his career or life. He forgets the sheer passion of his youth, the driving force behind his growth. He wipes away the memories of his clumsiness, and loses the curiosity he once had for the world.
I’m writing this because I don’t want to ever become that. No matter what happens in life, I don’t want to lose the apprentice mindset.
This is my commitment: to never lose curiosity for the things I don’t know; to always listen with the intense desire to gain what I can; to give myself wholeheartedly to the next adventure.
Photo by Peter Hershey on Unsplash
Day 2: Introductions ft. Pride and Prejudice
“The rest of the evening was spent in conjecturing how soon [Mr. Bingley] would return Mr. Bennet’s visit, and determining when they should ask him to dinner.”
Work Copied: Pride and Prejudice Chapters 2 & 3 Continue reading Day 2: Introductions ft. Pride and Prejudice
Day 1: The Genius of Jane Austen
“Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. Her mind was less difficult to develop. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.” -Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 1 Continue reading Day 1: The Genius of Jane Austen
The Lone Wolf
I was looking over previous writing that is stashed away in my computer and laughing at myself. But one of the pieces got me to thinking. Enjoy:
“Written by Daniel Defoe in 1719, Robinson Crusoe has fascinated readers for years. The book covers the adventures of a young, headstrong sailor through his journeys and finally the 28 years that he is stranded alone on an island near the mouth of the Orinoco River in the Americas. Themes in Robinson Crusoe include colonization, redemption, and individualism.
Is Robinson Crusoe a lovable character? Some look at the brat that forsook home at a young age. Others see a shiftless sailor who flits from one ship to the next. Still more criticize the domineering master who takes it on himself to civilize a savage. The statue these ideas sculpt is rather on the dislikable side- even repugnant.
Yet there is another side to the character- one found by those who look past the human flaws to the heart of the story. This aspect is the one that has caused Robinson Crusoe to flourish for almost 300 years. The brat disciplines his faulty character, experience balances the shiftless sailor, the teacher eclipses the domineering master. Meet Robinson Crusoe: the rugged lone wolf.
Everybody likes to read about a lone wolf. The character Robinson Crusoe is lovable for three reasons: his rugged individualism, his ability to recover from seemingly impossible situations, and his destiny of adventurous experiences all endear the reader to our protagonist.
What is possibly the greatest thing that reels a reader into the book Robinson Crusoe? It is the fact that he is a lone wolf: a rugged individualist.People love the fact that he figures out how to use the spoils from the shipwreck to build an empire on the island. He depends on no one and survives quite happily on his own.He digs a cave for his own house, domesticates animals for food, sews his own clothes, and grows food out of a couple random seeds that happen to sprout. Who doesn’t absolutely fall in love with a man who can care for himself?
What keeps the reader enthralled with Robinson Crusoe is his ability to escape from crazy situations. He escapes slavery and multiple shipwrecks, saves a man from death by cannibalism while risking his own life. Most would have died in the first shipwreck: nay, most would never have been on the first ship! So they revel in the life of one that cannot seem to die, for all life seems to throw at him.
The experiences of Robinson Crusoe are what make the book what it is. Who else builds up from slavery to plantation owner, then on a journey in which he only survives, to living and learning 28 years on an island, to going back to England with a personal companion to continue adventuring with? All readers love this because it is different, and because he became a self-made man.
Back to the brat, the headstrong sailor that has no fear of his parent’s desires and remonstrances. Give the guy a break, okay? He learned by experience what his father tried to teach him. And he gained more by the experience than he ever could have by simply living the normal life of an English gentleman.
Or, critics may claim that while a lone wolf sounds good, Crusoe was proud and unsociable.Then why has the book lasted for 300 years? Something about individualism endears anyone to that individualist.
In conclusion, why do we love Robinson Crusoe? It is because of his individualism, his narrow escapes, and his life full of adventure.
Everybody loves a lone wolf.”
I still think that everyone loves a good book about an individualist. But if Crusoe lived in our time, many would reject him.
So there is an addition to my essay: Everybody loves a book about a lone wolf. Today, we would drag the man out and call him crazy for his purposeful estrangement from society.
But we still love to read about him. At least, I do.
What are your thoughts? Would Robinson Crusoe survive the critiquing of people today?
Hidden Benefits of Daily Writing
They told me writing every day would benefit me. I could understand the discipline that would come. I knew there would begin to be a flow of ideas once I stuck the writing out for awhile.
Those were the benefits I knew would come before I even started. But there were so many unseen blessings of sitting down, every day, and putting my thoughts on my blog. Continue reading Hidden Benefits of Daily Writing
Recalled to Life? A Commentary on A Tale of Two Cities
What is life? Scientists define the four characteristics of life as the ability to reproduce, the presence of DNA, the strength to extract/ convert energy into a useful substance, and the capacity to sense and respond to changes in surroundings. Merriam-Webster maintains that life is”the sequence of physical and mental experiences that make up the existence of an individual”. Neither of these definitions encompass the full meaning of life when referring to the human being, a spiritual creature. Life is not simply physical existence. In fact, no human answer can fully define the word. Philosophers, scientists, all of humanity have tried in vain for years to put “life” in a box; to make it a tangible, understandable substance. Continue reading Recalled to Life? A Commentary on A Tale of Two Cities