Mind Inclined

If you had asked Ralph Waldo Emerson, he would have told you he was a genius.  If he sounds like an arrogant guy, I should add that Emerson thought everyone was a genius — or, at least, could be.

It's a tantalizing proposition, one that might have a lot of resonance today, nearly two centuries after Emerson presented it in his magnificent essay "Self-Reliance."

Was he right?

I have been writing a lot about literature and history over the past few months.  This week, I'm reveling in my other true love: words.  If you enjoy this column, I invite you to check out "What's Your Favorite Word?" from the August 24, 2024, issue of Mind Travel.

Lewis and Clark were men on a mission — and not merely in the playful way we use the phrase today when we're heading to the camp store to pick up ingredients for s'mores.

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Whether you want to take on an epic journey or just run a successful staff meeting, you can learn something about preparation from Lewis and Clark.  Throughout the month of May, the anniversary of their launch in 1804, we will be looking at their expedition and takeaways we can use to be "Ready for Anything."  We begin this week with the importance of learning.

Let's explore how Frederick Douglass chose to focus on what he could control.

What would your neocortex do?

Use your brain effectively to help you with difficult situations and people.

Last week, we explored the value of "playing it out." This week, we continue in a similar vein, using physiology and Benjamin Franklin to guide us in using our brains effectively—particularly when facing difficult situations and people.

Science on the amygdala: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/24894-amygdala

NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/well/mind/breathe-exhale-repeat-the-benefits-of-controlled-breathing.html?_r=1

My website: https://www.mindinclined.org

#Psychology #physiology #neocortex #mindset #mindfulness

Let's look at Franklin's instructive response to a petty annoyance. 

In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin tells the story of getting into a pickle with his co-workers in a print shop when he was a young man.  He was expected to pay something called a "Bienvenu, or Sum for Drink."  Franklin had already paid it when he worked in one part of the printing house, but then he was called on to pay again when he moved to a different part of the shop.  He protested that he had already paid it, and his boss agreed with him, but the workers in this new section did not accept this response and began sabotaging his work.

What would you do if you were in a similar situation — that is, if you felt you were in the right, but you still had to deal with the hassles that others were creating for you?  Franklin's response, I think, is instructive.

The story goes that a woman posed a question to Benjamin Franklin after he left the Constitutional Convention of 1787.  “Well, Doctor," she asked, "what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"  Franklin's response has become famous: “A republic, if you can keep it."

Franklin's words are worth remembering at a time of year when many of us have made New Year's resolutions and are struggling to maintain the habits we started on January 1.

New Year's resolutions typically focus on a what, but you're likely to fail without a how — a method.