“This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly.
Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.”
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/
~ Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1st Inaugural Speech, March 4th, 1933
“Courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library archives circa 1911.”
If you are looking for an inspirational quote about fear, or if you like Samuel L. Jackson movies, you will inevitably run into one or more quotes from a poem written by Marianne Williamson titled…
“Our Deepest Fear”
https://www.personalgrowthcourses.net/stories/williamson.ourdeepestfear.invitation
Today I am struggling with two fears, which I believe are really one, but it will take some work to figure out.
As I sat and pondered this I had to go back to the first sentence of my article a few times and really take it in.
“This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly.”
I am not being completely honest with myself. Yes, I have two fears. But I noticed I was about to use the second fear to deflect some attention off of my first fear.
Today I am afraid to consider myself a real writer. A professional. (I was going to insert a long explanation on what I consider qualifies as being a professional, but again… that would be a deflection.)
An author, a journalist, or for the generic term… a writer… at their core is a communicator.
It is their job.
They comment on things through their writing which they have experienced, or things that have affected them, or if it is their job to report things… then they do so.
In that sense I would like to comment on the recent passing of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and their friends. It made me sad. On a dad level for sure. But otherwise I’m not sure why it affected me like it has.
I’m not a big basketball fan. When I was in school Michael Jordan was doing his thing so I watched back then, and when Shaq came on the scene, I watched him also, but I’m not a big basketball fan.
When Kobe came onto the scene it was a little more of the same. He was a special talent, I watched a game or two, and that was about it.
Then when he had his early struggles with fame, and finding himself in places he shouldn’t have been, I remember telling my sons, “What did you expect was going to happen?”
As his career progressed you could not escape knowing who he was. He was mentioned in all manner of context. It didn’t matter what sport, movie, or magazine you were into at the time, there would invariably be an ad, a quote, or interview with him in it.
So then… Kobe becomes Kobe. His drive. His mentality. His fame and failures… became a purple and gold tapestry, looming large, for all the world to look to and admire.
Photo courtesy https://www.hd-freewallpapers.com
My sons, especially my youngest, used him as their hero, someone to aspire to. In their athletic endeavors they had opportunity to practice their own “Mamba Mentality.”
It has only been in his retirement that I had come to admire him… and his “Mamba Mentality.”
Changing jobs recently, starting a writing ‘career,’ (hear how I down played that) doing the introspective work to get to know who the heck I am… here was a real life person applying those life skills that I admired and was learning about… and he was doing pretty good at it. (wink wink)
The most admirable quality for me was his love of being a dad, a Definite Dad, to his girls. You could see it on his face. He also, in my estimation, carried himself as a man. Seems to have self educated himself, as I don’t believe he has any college degree’s, and had continued expanding himself… becoming an author and film maker, among other business ventures.
To me… that is what was cool about him… yes, he’s top five of basketballs all time greats, but there’s lots of great basketball players… he had become something different… an elite for the everyman… and woman.
https://www.hd-freewallpapers.com
https://www.foxla.com/video/648287
“Los Angeles Sparks star Candace Parker heard from Kobe before Game 5 of the 2016 WNBA Finals. She’d won at every level except the WNBA, and her failure to do so was becoming a defining characteristic.
Kobe called and asked her, “What are you afraid of?” Parker recalled. “You’re either going to lose scared, or you’re going to win. It’s that simple.””
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28569693/kobe-bryant-never-stopped-trying-inspire
There are real things to be afraid of… you could be torn apart by wolves, grizzly bears, or domestic violence… then there are those things that we ‘think’ are scary and make us fearful… I call them the ‘what if’ thoughts, they are like a dirty, mental rat, scurrying over our feet…
which are the natural prey of The Black Mamba mentality.
“What if they don’t like my writing?” ~ me
“Your playing small
Does not serve the world.”
~ Marianne Williamson, Our Deepest Fear
stop playing, and thinking small dave, and remember this…
writer.
[ˈrīdər]
NOUN
a person who has written a particular text. “the writer of the letter”
•a person who writes books, stories, or articles as a job or regular occupation.
synonyms: author · wordsmith · man/woman of letters · penman · creative writer · scribbler · scribe · pen-pusher · hack · potboiler
•a person who writes in a specified way.
Even if you demean yourself as a “Hack” or “Scribbler” you are a writer as defined by Webster. But the difference between knowing and believing is the core issue.
Hahahah… thanks for filling in the gap with the definition… knowing and believing are funny things.
Thanks Paul.