uranusbluedanger1
New member
I have a 'continuing' Gifted Education class I decided to take that focuses on philosophy at school (we usually have seminars, but when you're a senior, they only make four so if you really want to continue with gifted ed. then you can take the class offered to seniors)--I am absolutely in love with the people, their ideas and the unconventional spirit of the class (there's only 10 of us)... Anyway, our first 'journal' response of the year was the prompt: If a sailor does not know the port of destination, any wind is favorable." While the main idea is simple and easily decoded, we were asked to write and expand on it. Today we got back the papers and my teacher, an incredible person through and through who lobbied for gifted education and created it in my county (and went on to create the framework for other courses along the state), told us he has only given 4 '100s' in the years he has taught his seminar course, mostly because he dislikes giving them and some thing must really impress him to give one...
Well, I got a 100 on the written work below. I don't know why; I think it's rather plain and the logic is very simple, but anyway, I thought I would share and see what YOUR views are ON THE QUOTE--my work is silly and inconsequential anyway, but the prompt is really inspiring under the right conditions. The people in the group really liked the quote in *italics on the 'future'.
Any Wind is Favorable
“If a sailor does not know the port of destination, any wind is favorable…”
Translation: if you don’t have an end in mind, every path is not only viable, but encouraging. Is this the mindset of the optimist or is this the way it was always meant to be? After all, if life is ever changing and we can never actually know concretely what we’ll be doing in a couple of years, why is it that we plan for things? It almost seems silly to plan for a future we can’t always see. Sure, we can envision, but I can’t sit in front of a crystal ball and be sure that what I do today will necessarily affect my future in the ways I want to. I might not be doing the right thing. And that’s the problem with focusing on the future–you lose sight of today. That’s the problem with backwards thinking…
A man (and author) by the name of Leon Tec, who managed to fight against adversity during the time of Nazi Eastern Europe as a Jew and went onto become a well-known psychiatrist in Israel once said the opposite of this prompt (I suppose I explain this about his background to make him seem more reliable): If a sailor does not know the destination, then no wind is favorable. I always wondered if guidance counselors took this to heart. After all, throughout our academic careers we have been conditioned to think backwards: from the end to the beginning. We think of the outcome and then focus on how to get there. This has never made much sense to me. It is that type of mindset which puts an emphasis on the future. Jorge Castaneda, who would later go on to become Mexico’s foreign minister observed all the way back in the 1990s that while Mexicans were obsessed with the past, Americans were obsessed with the future, and he wasn’t far off. As soon as I started my High School career, I can remember being reminded that college was looming closer. And if I go further back to sixth grade, I can remember being reminded that High School was looming close. And as a Junior, I was already being asked by my teachers and counselor what I wanted to do in college–this assuming that I’d go on to college and that I had any idea of what I wanted to do. But the truth is that that is the American mindset. Today is already too late. We must always have a plan for a given destination so that we may actually reach that destination–if you don’t have a ‘port’ how will you ever know that you have reached success? I suppose this is what creates the concept of disappointment. If you don’t reach the ‘port’ then you have failed, but, imagine if you didn’t have a port? Would you be happy with anything at all?
*That’s the simple moral of the invisible story told behind that one short phrase: seeing life as full of possibilities enables us to focus on today by assuring us that the future is a concept shaped by today instead of having us think that the future is a concept that shapes our present (which is what we seem to be told a lot lately). After all, if you don’t condition yourself to see only one ‘image’ of yourself, one ‘career’ for yourself, then any place you end up suddenly seems perfect–you didn’t have anything else envisioned, anyway. Thus, you can enjoy the ‘right now.’ It’s the mindset of no matter what I do, things will fall into place. The sailor sails in the open ocean and is not weighted down by the constraints of a location; instead, he can explore other places freely without worrying that he’ll lose his way. He will learn to enjoy the breeze and the sun, and when he runs out of provisions, he can always stop at whatever port is closest. Just the same, a person will enjoy learning or life for the sake of learning or living versus feeling tied back and forced to recognize only one aspect existence so that it can fit into the ultimate vision. Perhaps the only problem with thinking this way is that it seems like a very unstructured life–just going with the current, everything is fine in a positive mindset–but the truth is that not having a destination simply means keeping your options open. Keeping your options open seems to take even more planning than having a set end point. You must regroup at every stop. You stopped at a port?–Now you must look at what you have, what you have acquired, the knowledge you now posses through all those travels, and think about how you will use everything in your hands to last you until the next port. Meanwhile, you become a collector of timeless knowledge. Eventually the sailor will either return home (back to that comfort area we all have) or will find that one place that keeps them so content (the chosen career, lifestyle, etc) that they will stay there forever–the chosen niche. Nature tells us all creatures have a niche. Just the same, humans must all also have a niche–a place they belong. Sometimes I wonder if we lose sight of our true calling because we’re trying to force our self to hear some other call. Imagine if you were free to listen to everything, pick indiscriminately just like the sailor can pick any port.
I almost envy the type of mindset which promotes such positivism of life. I’m a ‘goal-oriented person.’ I have been conditioned and accepted willfully the idea of looking at the end and then finding the way to get there. I need structure in my life, I suppose, but many times I’m caught wondering if what I have chosen is what I’m really meant to be doing. I’ve toyed with the idea of keeping my options open, of living day to day, sometimes even telling my friends that if ‘the plan’ fails, I’ll simply travel the world, become a professional hobo in Europe. What a negative connotation–to simply assume that if I ‘fail’ to meet the goal I’ve set that I will be a failure forever, that I will fail to find my happiness. Maybe there is something to keeping options open–maybe I should stop thinking about what I want to do tomorrow and begin to think about what I’m doing today. After all, if I broaden my horizons then any outcome should be a success…
…right?
Well, I got a 100 on the written work below. I don't know why; I think it's rather plain and the logic is very simple, but anyway, I thought I would share and see what YOUR views are ON THE QUOTE--my work is silly and inconsequential anyway, but the prompt is really inspiring under the right conditions. The people in the group really liked the quote in *italics on the 'future'.
Any Wind is Favorable
“If a sailor does not know the port of destination, any wind is favorable…”
Translation: if you don’t have an end in mind, every path is not only viable, but encouraging. Is this the mindset of the optimist or is this the way it was always meant to be? After all, if life is ever changing and we can never actually know concretely what we’ll be doing in a couple of years, why is it that we plan for things? It almost seems silly to plan for a future we can’t always see. Sure, we can envision, but I can’t sit in front of a crystal ball and be sure that what I do today will necessarily affect my future in the ways I want to. I might not be doing the right thing. And that’s the problem with focusing on the future–you lose sight of today. That’s the problem with backwards thinking…
A man (and author) by the name of Leon Tec, who managed to fight against adversity during the time of Nazi Eastern Europe as a Jew and went onto become a well-known psychiatrist in Israel once said the opposite of this prompt (I suppose I explain this about his background to make him seem more reliable): If a sailor does not know the destination, then no wind is favorable. I always wondered if guidance counselors took this to heart. After all, throughout our academic careers we have been conditioned to think backwards: from the end to the beginning. We think of the outcome and then focus on how to get there. This has never made much sense to me. It is that type of mindset which puts an emphasis on the future. Jorge Castaneda, who would later go on to become Mexico’s foreign minister observed all the way back in the 1990s that while Mexicans were obsessed with the past, Americans were obsessed with the future, and he wasn’t far off. As soon as I started my High School career, I can remember being reminded that college was looming closer. And if I go further back to sixth grade, I can remember being reminded that High School was looming close. And as a Junior, I was already being asked by my teachers and counselor what I wanted to do in college–this assuming that I’d go on to college and that I had any idea of what I wanted to do. But the truth is that that is the American mindset. Today is already too late. We must always have a plan for a given destination so that we may actually reach that destination–if you don’t have a ‘port’ how will you ever know that you have reached success? I suppose this is what creates the concept of disappointment. If you don’t reach the ‘port’ then you have failed, but, imagine if you didn’t have a port? Would you be happy with anything at all?
*That’s the simple moral of the invisible story told behind that one short phrase: seeing life as full of possibilities enables us to focus on today by assuring us that the future is a concept shaped by today instead of having us think that the future is a concept that shapes our present (which is what we seem to be told a lot lately). After all, if you don’t condition yourself to see only one ‘image’ of yourself, one ‘career’ for yourself, then any place you end up suddenly seems perfect–you didn’t have anything else envisioned, anyway. Thus, you can enjoy the ‘right now.’ It’s the mindset of no matter what I do, things will fall into place. The sailor sails in the open ocean and is not weighted down by the constraints of a location; instead, he can explore other places freely without worrying that he’ll lose his way. He will learn to enjoy the breeze and the sun, and when he runs out of provisions, he can always stop at whatever port is closest. Just the same, a person will enjoy learning or life for the sake of learning or living versus feeling tied back and forced to recognize only one aspect existence so that it can fit into the ultimate vision. Perhaps the only problem with thinking this way is that it seems like a very unstructured life–just going with the current, everything is fine in a positive mindset–but the truth is that not having a destination simply means keeping your options open. Keeping your options open seems to take even more planning than having a set end point. You must regroup at every stop. You stopped at a port?–Now you must look at what you have, what you have acquired, the knowledge you now posses through all those travels, and think about how you will use everything in your hands to last you until the next port. Meanwhile, you become a collector of timeless knowledge. Eventually the sailor will either return home (back to that comfort area we all have) or will find that one place that keeps them so content (the chosen career, lifestyle, etc) that they will stay there forever–the chosen niche. Nature tells us all creatures have a niche. Just the same, humans must all also have a niche–a place they belong. Sometimes I wonder if we lose sight of our true calling because we’re trying to force our self to hear some other call. Imagine if you were free to listen to everything, pick indiscriminately just like the sailor can pick any port.
I almost envy the type of mindset which promotes such positivism of life. I’m a ‘goal-oriented person.’ I have been conditioned and accepted willfully the idea of looking at the end and then finding the way to get there. I need structure in my life, I suppose, but many times I’m caught wondering if what I have chosen is what I’m really meant to be doing. I’ve toyed with the idea of keeping my options open, of living day to day, sometimes even telling my friends that if ‘the plan’ fails, I’ll simply travel the world, become a professional hobo in Europe. What a negative connotation–to simply assume that if I ‘fail’ to meet the goal I’ve set that I will be a failure forever, that I will fail to find my happiness. Maybe there is something to keeping options open–maybe I should stop thinking about what I want to do tomorrow and begin to think about what I’m doing today. After all, if I broaden my horizons then any outcome should be a success…
…right?
