Curious about Myth: How Important Are They? Do You Believe and/or Use Them?

Myth, the Definition:
1. A story of great but unknown age which originally embodied a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are personified; an ancient legend of a god, a hero, the origin of a race, etc.; a wonder story of prehistoric origin; a popular fable which is, or has been, received as historical.
2. A person or thing existing only in imagination, or whose actual existence is not verifiable.

“There's no myth that holds our culture more firmly in its grip than that you are the result of your parents' conditioning-you are the result of their bodies. That so permeates our thinking that we forget that our calling may have a completely different source.” - James Hillman

“Myth is an attempt to narrate a whole human experience, of which the purpose is too deep, going too deep in the blood and soul, for mental explanation or description.” - David Herbert Lawrence

Being a storyteller, I have a completely different view of myth from many others whom I will quote in this blog. On the one hand I adhere to definition #1 and feel that myth is a wonder story. Whereas, on the other hand, I have discovered that if, as a writer, I am describing an article titled, “The Nine Myths of Physical Fitness,” I am far from story.

Karen Armstrong has written a fascinating article about narrative in the Guardian, in which she writes, “Stories give coherence to the confusion of our experience. In pre-modern society, we called our most serious stories "myths". Because of the rational bias of our modernity, the word ‘myth’ today is regarded as something that is not true. However, originally myth was not concerned with actual occurrence but with an event's deeper meaning. Myth has been well described as an early form of psychology; instead of representing external reality, it laid bare our inner world. It was not attempting to be factual and objective, but to outline a course of action that would help us to deal with our problematic lives.” (you will find the article here).

I became curious about the word and usage of myth while listening to an enlightening, taped conversation between Caroline Myss and Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D. They discuss Intuition and the Mystical Life. Estes is an outstanding storyteller and referred often to myth.

Following are some of the interesting quotations I found (I filled three sheets of paper with them, but will hit the highlights):

• “If you're going to be a myth or want to be a myth, you'd better die young.” - Alma Guillermoprie
• “There is nothing truer than myth: history, in its attempt to ‘realize’ myth, distorts it, stops halfway; when history claims to have ‘succeeded,’ this is nothing but humbug and mystification. Everything we dream is ‘realizable.’ Reality does not have to be: it is simply what it is.” - Eugene Ionesco
• “Science and technology revolutionize our lives, but memory, tradition and myth frame our response.” - Arthur M. Schlesinger

Then, there are the quotations that mirror the feeling that a myth is not true:

• “Taste is more to do with manners than appearances. Taste is both myth and reality; it is not a style.” - Stephen Bayley
• “The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born - that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” - Warren G. Bennis
• “The Santa myth is one of the most effective means ever devised for intimidating children, eroding their self-esteem, twisting their behavior, warping their values, and slowing their development of critical thinking skills.” - Tom Flynn
• “I always looked for a man to rescue me and bring me happiness. I bought into that myth, of course, and looked for my own Prince Charming.” - Linda Evans
• “But it's also another myth to think that you should be as tight as a drum and not have any frailties or fragilities.” - William Hurt

We could have a whole, lively discussion about any one of those statements!

And, here are two of my favorites, that will also be great ideas for all of us to consider during this coming week:

• From one of my favorite writers, Robert Fulghum, “I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.”
• From one of my favorite artists, Mark Rothko, “The myth holds us, therefore, not through its romantic flavor, not the remembrance of beauty of some bygone age, not through the possibilities of fantasy, but because it expresses to us something real and existing in ourselves, as it was to those who first stumbled upon the symbols to give them life.”

Have a great week, and do let me hear from you!

Curious about Faces and Facing: How Do You Handle Both?

“A face is like the outside of a house, and most faces, like most houses, give us an idea of what we can expect to find inside.” - Loretta Young

“The thing is, at the end of the day you still have to face yourself.” - Dave Pelzer

When I started planning this blog, I was completely focused on the noun “face” and intended to cover the topic from Loretta Young’s standpoint. Then, as I hunted down interesting quotations, I realized the wider scope when we also consider “face” as a verb. So, here goes!

First of all here is my take on the noun. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if we are thinking of our businesses/careers or our lives in general. The “face” we show to the world creates a huge impact. It can show professionalism, friendliness, interest and openness - to name a few.

The expression our face itself is wearing does “give us an idea of what we can expect to find inside.” Have you ever given a great big smile to a total stranger - who is looking sad and grumpy - and had the reward of seeing him or her light up and smile back? How about at a networking event? If we look open and friendly (to look that way, you must feel that way), other attendees will be attracted and drawn to us. And, isn’t that what networking is all about?

Another way to think about the noun “face” is to realize that the face of our business/career is formed by everything we do and use to market ourselves. If you send out a letter, brochure, newsletter, postcard and/or e-mail, do you check it for typos and grammar? What about appearance?

What kind of face, besides a professionally taken photograph, introduces you on the Internet? Does your website exude the face of someone a visitor wants to know, like and trust?

Some enlightening quotations concerning the noun face:

• “Eisenhower had about the most expressive face I ever painted, I guess. Just like an actor's. Very mobile. When he talked, he used all the facial muscles. And he had a great, wide mouth that I liked. When he smiled, it was just like the sun came out.” - Norman Rockwell
• “At 50, everyone has the face he deserves.” - George Orwell
• “Alas, after a certain age every man is responsible for his face.” - Albert Camus
• “A man's face as a rule says more, and more interesting things, than his mouth, for it is a compendium of everything his mouth will ever say, in that it is the monogram of all this man's thoughts and aspirations.” - Arthur Schopenhauer

Ah! But what about the verb “face”? As I searched for quotations, I found many that dealt with the strengths and wisdom that we gain by facing the travails of life and business. And, of course, there is the descriptive phrase, “falling flat on one’s face.” I have experienced it. What about you? In my first business venture, I made every business mistake possible and did fall flat on my face.

Here are some of the interesting and revealing quotations concerning the verb face:

• “We all have to face pain, and pain makes us grow.” - James Taylor
• “All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil. The fight to the finish spirit is the one... characteristic we must posses if we are to face the future as finishers.” - Henry David Thoreau
• “We need diversity of thought in the world to face the new challenges.” - Tim Berners Lee
• “Facing it, always facing it, that's the way to get through. Face it.” - Joseph Conrad
• “When I was younger I used to pick things just to face the fear.” - Vincent D'Onofrio

Therefore, I ask you again. First, what face are you showing the world? Is it the true you? Are you proud of it? Second, how well are you facing the ups and downs of your life and careers? Are you accepting them while learning from the experiences. We all have ups and downs. It’s how we face them that is important.

A couple of quotations to tide you over until next week:

“What is a face, really? Its own photo? Its make-up? Or is it a face as painted by such or such painter? That which is in front? Inside? Behind? And the rest? Doesn't everyone look at himself in his own particular way? Deformations simply do not exist.” - Pablo Picasso

“As I said there is nothing wrong with failing. Pick yourself up and try it again. You never are going to know how good you really are until you go out and face failure.” - Henry Kravis

Curious about Percents and Percentages: What Effects Do They Produce for You?

“Fifty percent of people won't vote, and fifty percent don't read newspapers. I hope it's the same fifty percent.” - Gore Vidal

This past week, as I listened to the radio’s report on Tuesday’s special elections, I was shocked when one of the reporters said a certain candidate had won by a “landslide.” She went on to announce that he had received 59 percent of the vote.

I was shocked that this is considered unusually high. Think about it. That means that 41 percent of the voters wanted someone else to win. If you were running for office, how pleased would this make you?

It started me thinking about percentages and percents - what they mean and how easily they are bandied about in so many statements.

We discuss them a great deal when thinking about fitness and our eating habits. There are as many different suggestions about the recommended percentages of protein, fat and carbohydrates, as there are nutritional plans.

• “You want to know why you are at a certain body weight and body fat percentage and that's knowing exactly what you eat all of the time.” - Warren Cuccurullo
• “We can get along on only 20 percent of our lung capacity, but that dragging sort of existence is a poor substitute for the vitality we enjoy when the twin bellows of our lungs are taking in great drafts of oxygen.” - Gene Tunney
• “When Campbell's soup said 20 percent more chicken, I just wanted to know what went. The can's the same size. Something had to go.” - Don Novello

Let’s consider success. Percents and percentages are repeated with abandon concerning this topic. At least, I didn’t run across the advice to give everything your 110 percent (an impossibility).

• “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” - Woody Allen
• “Leadership is the key to 99 percent of all successful efforts.” - Erskine Bowles
• “Ninety percent of my game is mental. It's my concentration that has gotten me this far.” - Chris Evert Lloyd
• “The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.” - David Hockney
• “You never can tell what a man is able to do, but even though I recommend ten, and nine of them may disappoint me and fail, the tenth one may surprise me. That percentage is good enough for me, because it is in developing people that we make real progress in our own society.” - August Vollmer

And then there is that often repeated 80 - 20 rule. You have heard it, I am sure. In the business world, 20 percent of the sales people sell 80 percent of the product. 20 percent of the employees do 80 percent of the work. Unfortunately, 80 percent of the effort we expend in our businesses often brings in only 20 percent of the results.

• Henry A. Kissinger has the solution, “If eighty percent of your sales come from twenty percent of all of your items, just carry those twenty percent.”

There were many other interesting ideas and quotations about percents and percentages. Let me share a few of these that I think you will enjoy:

• “Ninety-nine percent of who you are is invisible and untouchable.”- R. Buckminster Fuller
• “Harpists spend 90 percent of their lives tuning their harps and 10 percent playing out of tune.” - Igor Stravinsky
• “An advertising agency is 85 percent confusion and 15 percent commission.” - Fred Allen
• “In Hollywood, an equitable divorce settlement means each party getting fifty percent of publicity.” - Lauren Bacall
• “Ninety-two percent of the stuff told you in confidence you couldn't get anyone else to listen to.” - Franklin P. Adams
• “Santa is our culture's only mythic figure truly believed in by a large percentage of the population. It's a fact that most of the true believers are under eight years old, and that's a pity.” - Chris Van Allsburg

I always like to close these blogs with some thought-provoking quotations for you to consider during this coming week:

• “I am astonished each time I come to the U.S. by the ignorance of a high percentage of the population, which knows almost nothing about Latin America or about the world. It's quite blind and deaf to anything that may happen outside the frontiers of the U.S.” - Eduardo Galeano
• “We have become ninety-nine percent money mad. The method of living at home modestly and within our income, laying a little by systematically for the proverbial rainy day which is due to come, can almost be listed among the lost arts.” - George Washington Carver

On a more positive note: “When you go into a setting like Camden Yards or Fenway Park and you walk out on the field for the first time, there's a sense of unbelievable awe, a feeling that only a very small percentage of people ever get to feel. You want to be able to share that, to bring that feeling, that dream, into focus.” - Cal Ripken, Jr.

Have a wonderful week!

Curious about Instincts: How Do They Affect You and How Do You Use Them?

“Work hard, use your common sense and don't be afraid to trust your instincts.” - Fred L. Turner

“I don't like doing what's expected. I've always done best when I've listened to my instincts rather than following convention or doing what other people think I should do.” - Shawn Colvin

When I decided to write a blog about “instinct” I was curious about the similarities and differences between “instinct” and “intuition.” Yes, there is a similarity, but when we compare the dictionary definitions, we find that an instinct is, “a natural or inherent aptitude, impulse, or capacity ” whereas intuition is, “The act or faculty of knowing or sensing without the use of rational processes; immediate cognition.”

I ask you, though, are we using our instincts when we make decisions based on intuition? Another definition of instinct is, “Behavior that is mediated by reactions below the conscious level” and of intuition is, “A sense of something not evident or deducible; an impression.” Now they are sounding a lot more similar!

I think that the most interesting part of my delving into instinct(s) was the reading and study of the quotations. I found that so many of the quotations were positive and gave a lot of credit and power to instincts - much more than was ever given to intuition.

Examples of trusting our instincts:

• “My instincts have never let me down.” - Kim Wilde
• “The most important thing is that you believe in yourself and trust your instincts.” - Martin Yan
• “I think everyone should follow their instincts, and go with what they feel, and follow their heart.” - Jena Malone
• “Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to ‘carry it off.’" - Donald Rumsfeld

Then, there is applying our instincts to what we do:

• “You have to really be courageous about your instincts and your ideas. Otherwise you'll just knuckle under, and things that might have been memorable will be lost.” - Francis Ford Coppola
• “When the going got tough, I really had to draw on many of the same competitive instincts I did when I was skating. I really had to put my head down and stay positive. I had to fight.” - Peggy Fleming
• “You just have to trust your instincts and hope that if someone doesn't like your idea, you can prove them wrong in the final process. In the end, you can please some of the people some of the time, but that's about all you can do.” - Bryan Singer

So, what are your innate instincts? And do you use them consciously to work with and for you? The following names are in the news and have interesting thoughts about their instincts:

• “As a rock star, I have two instincts, I want to have fun, and I want to change the world. I have a chance to do both.” - Bono
• “A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.” - Richard Branson
• “I always go by instinct. I have been a freelance my whole career, and I always go by my instincts, and thus remain responsible for my own decisions.” - Michael York

Here are two thoughts for us to chew on this coming week:

“September 11 is one of our worst days but it brought out the best in us. It unified us as a country and showed our charitable instincts and reminded us of what we stood for and stand for.” - Lamar Alexander

“To seek understanding before taking action, yet to trust my instincts when action is called for. Never to avoid danger from fear, never to seek out danger for its own sake. Never to conform to fashion from fear of eccentricity, never to be eccentric from fear of conformity.” - Steven Brust

What do you think? I would love to hear from you.