Serendipitously (or was it that?), before reading your post just now, I had just downloaded all three of Rachel Carson's three New Yorker magazine articles in 1962 (June 16, 23, 30) entitled Silent Spring I, II + III. Rachel was mocked, ridiculed, and shamed by men from DuPont, the government, the press - while she was dying from breast…
Serendipitously (or was it that?), before reading your post just now, I had just downloaded all three of Rachel Carson's three New Yorker magazine articles in 1962 (June 16, 23, 30) entitled Silent Spring I, II + III. Rachel was mocked, ridiculed, and shamed by men from DuPont, the government, the press - while she was dying from breast cancer - and yet, she put on a wig, and faced their withering scorn, and Mike Wallace. She was a woman of a "certain age" who dared to find her true love, and still care for her adopted nephew after her sister's death. She did all this because she knew she had to. And then she died, two years later at age 56. Today, we all the better for her courage. Where did she find that?
“Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.”-Robert F. Kennedy
Rachel Carson knew she was right, and morally so. I believe Courage springs from curiosity. Reading. Learning. Discussing. Testing.Defending. Each carries a certain risk and an unknown reward.
After reading all these lovely comments, I returned to Christy's link on Courage. It sent me down a "rabbit hole" of discovery. And it made me resonate with Susan Lorraine Knox's statement above that "Courage is a learned skill."
The DeVries article reminded me of something my 50-year old friend, a police officer/detective, Shane Harris, taught his daughter. She spoke about this at his Memorial this past Saturday morning. Being a member of the Force since he was 19 years old, Shane offered her training in how to use a gun and how to Own A Room using The Slice of Pie tactic. It moved me deeply and it is one of the gifts that Shane, who died way too soon, left all of us who are not in the military or the Force to ponder, and hone, as a life lesson. And it made me have such respect for all the men and women in dark blue uniforms who showed up, stood at attention in the hot sun while the rest of us sat under the safe canopies of shelter during that hot summer morning to pay respects to one of their own.
The two police and military tactics reminded me I know nothing about military strategies nor the Courage these men and women know and must use daily and probably had to use standing there in the heat for several hours. Maybe, I thought, it is time for me to learn how to use them. If only as metaphors for Life. But also maybe to know how the insurrectionists, Proud Boys, Qanoners and rogue police and militia have been trained to think and act. If made me think how important Eugene Goodman's judgment and Courage to lead the insurrectionists away from our elected officials. Brilliant tactical strategy and quick thinking in a crisis.
Shane told his daughter, whilst teaching her how to shoot targets or hostiles, how to enter or pass a room using the Slice of Pie technique (I watched a short video on that: https://dailyshooting.com/slice-the-pie-tactic/). You deal with the hostile/s there. Once you have "cleared a room"— YOU OWN IT. You enter the room fully and you completely Own The Room. This young woman said that she will take this important lesson from her father and look at her life, in all he taught her, and keep learning how to Own the Room as her Life progresses without him there to protect her. He taught her the skills to raise her Courage and be self-confident. This is an incredibly important lesson in life. And though I would prefer to talk about observing and preserving our beloved ospreys and my deep love for kayaking today, my/our Courage must also be honed to protect our Democracy in whatever way our Courage directs us to learn and show up. I share this for those of you who are scared and anxious about these strange days.
We need to step into our Country right now and Own The Room. I love how so many of you are doing that with your actions, writing and calling our elected officials. I also love how others focus on our animals and environment. Thank all of you for showing up and sharing your actions for our critical natural environment and animals, for people and for our Country. We need everyone to choose something, anything, and Own That Room.
Do you see how I just used a brainwashing technique in repeating the message (Own the Room)? We need to use those techniques to unwash brains-- like over at Fox and Qanon. Make sure they get the opposite messaging to their constant brainwashing by flooding them with reality.
Profound, Penelope. You got my attention so that’s “owning the room”. It’s all about framing intent. An excellent counter strategy to Fox News and their smarmy arrogance.
What a beautiful testament to Shane Harris and his daughter who was a loving daughter and his good student. It's comments like this that keep me coming back to this portion of HCR's Letters. I love Heather's optimism within the facts and I love all of your responses. You are good company and I crave good company. Thank you too to Penelope for sharing this with us today. I shall be pondering owning the room, courage and somewhere in this thread I read about curiosity which I hold in high regard. A bow to you all and of course to Heather.
Thank you for the link. IT is like the Natura v future argument. I was always a shy timid child and teen. Slowly began blooming the older I became. My first husband once told me that he felt like Dick Diver in Tender is the Night. He was watching me grow as he stayed still. I always wonder if was in me from birth or I became a different person.
Neuroscience has demonstrated that our brains are modifiable to a much larger extent than has been previously thought. It may take work (like healing early traumas), but we can change our brain. Googling neuroplasticity will turn up lots. I started with Norman Doidge.
thank you for linking this. I would never have seen it otherwise. I'm in the final third of my life (optimistically) and saw up close too many CEOs who made selfish, childish, cowardly choices during the pandemic. I take great hope from this example!
I forgot caring and compassion for something, someone, or for ALL. Courage comes from caring. Courage like Rachel Carson’s springs from recognizing injustice and suffering, and the willingness to work to alleviate both.
Serendipitously (or was it that?), before reading your post just now, I had just downloaded all three of Rachel Carson's three New Yorker magazine articles in 1962 (June 16, 23, 30) entitled Silent Spring I, II + III. Rachel was mocked, ridiculed, and shamed by men from DuPont, the government, the press - while she was dying from breast cancer - and yet, she put on a wig, and faced their withering scorn, and Mike Wallace. She was a woman of a "certain age" who dared to find her true love, and still care for her adopted nephew after her sister's death. She did all this because she knew she had to. And then she died, two years later at age 56. Today, we all the better for her courage. Where did she find that?
“Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.”-Robert F. Kennedy
Rachel Carson knew she was right, and morally so. I believe Courage springs from curiosity. Reading. Learning. Discussing. Testing.Defending. Each carries a certain risk and an unknown reward.
Courage is a learned skill.
This is interesting. Is there research regarding?
A discussion on this. Not sure if there is actual research as much as experiential knowledge from living it. https://hbr.org/2020/05/how-to-find-and-practice-courage
After reading all these lovely comments, I returned to Christy's link on Courage. It sent me down a "rabbit hole" of discovery. And it made me resonate with Susan Lorraine Knox's statement above that "Courage is a learned skill."
The DeVries article reminded me of something my 50-year old friend, a police officer/detective, Shane Harris, taught his daughter. She spoke about this at his Memorial this past Saturday morning. Being a member of the Force since he was 19 years old, Shane offered her training in how to use a gun and how to Own A Room using The Slice of Pie tactic. It moved me deeply and it is one of the gifts that Shane, who died way too soon, left all of us who are not in the military or the Force to ponder, and hone, as a life lesson. And it made me have such respect for all the men and women in dark blue uniforms who showed up, stood at attention in the hot sun while the rest of us sat under the safe canopies of shelter during that hot summer morning to pay respects to one of their own.
The two police and military tactics reminded me I know nothing about military strategies nor the Courage these men and women know and must use daily and probably had to use standing there in the heat for several hours. Maybe, I thought, it is time for me to learn how to use them. If only as metaphors for Life. But also maybe to know how the insurrectionists, Proud Boys, Qanoners and rogue police and militia have been trained to think and act. If made me think how important Eugene Goodman's judgment and Courage to lead the insurrectionists away from our elected officials. Brilliant tactical strategy and quick thinking in a crisis.
Shane told his daughter, whilst teaching her how to shoot targets or hostiles, how to enter or pass a room using the Slice of Pie technique (I watched a short video on that: https://dailyshooting.com/slice-the-pie-tactic/). You deal with the hostile/s there. Once you have "cleared a room"— YOU OWN IT. You enter the room fully and you completely Own The Room. This young woman said that she will take this important lesson from her father and look at her life, in all he taught her, and keep learning how to Own the Room as her Life progresses without him there to protect her. He taught her the skills to raise her Courage and be self-confident. This is an incredibly important lesson in life. And though I would prefer to talk about observing and preserving our beloved ospreys and my deep love for kayaking today, my/our Courage must also be honed to protect our Democracy in whatever way our Courage directs us to learn and show up. I share this for those of you who are scared and anxious about these strange days.
We need to step into our Country right now and Own The Room. I love how so many of you are doing that with your actions, writing and calling our elected officials. I also love how others focus on our animals and environment. Thank all of you for showing up and sharing your actions for our critical natural environment and animals, for people and for our Country. We need everyone to choose something, anything, and Own That Room.
Do you see how I just used a brainwashing technique in repeating the message (Own the Room)? We need to use those techniques to unwash brains-- like over at Fox and Qanon. Make sure they get the opposite messaging to their constant brainwashing by flooding them with reality.
Profound, Penelope. You got my attention so that’s “owning the room”. It’s all about framing intent. An excellent counter strategy to Fox News and their smarmy arrogance.
What a beautiful testament to Shane Harris and his daughter who was a loving daughter and his good student. It's comments like this that keep me coming back to this portion of HCR's Letters. I love Heather's optimism within the facts and I love all of your responses. You are good company and I crave good company. Thank you too to Penelope for sharing this with us today. I shall be pondering owning the room, courage and somewhere in this thread I read about curiosity which I hold in high regard. A bow to you all and of course to Heather.
Thank you for the link. IT is like the Natura v future argument. I was always a shy timid child and teen. Slowly began blooming the older I became. My first husband once told me that he felt like Dick Diver in Tender is the Night. He was watching me grow as he stayed still. I always wonder if was in me from birth or I became a different person.
Neuroscience has demonstrated that our brains are modifiable to a much larger extent than has been previously thought. It may take work (like healing early traumas), but we can change our brain. Googling neuroplasticity will turn up lots. I started with Norman Doidge.
Transformation versus “going to seed”.
thank you for linking this. I would never have seen it otherwise. I'm in the final third of my life (optimistically) and saw up close too many CEOs who made selfish, childish, cowardly choices during the pandemic. I take great hope from this example!
Transforming Leadership by James MacGregor Burns
Or
Barbara Kellerman
I think courage comes from the determination to bring about change for the common good.
I forgot caring and compassion for something, someone, or for ALL. Courage comes from caring. Courage like Rachel Carson’s springs from recognizing injustice and suffering, and the willingness to work to alleviate both.
It's Doing the Next Right Thing!!!!😊
Too bad the republicans don't have an ounce of It!!😡
Agree. Republicans only do what gets them more campaign $ from…? (Hint…it has nothing to do with there constituents, only donors and dark donor PACS)
Rachel Carson was one incredible woman. Regardless of the scorn she received, perseverance was key …..plus she was right!
In other words - she persisted - as have many courageous women in this world!