Chloe: Critic Girl/Renaissance Woman

Michael Gelb asks: What are the most influential experiences of your life?

He suggests a more structured way of examining them, including making a list and then summarizing them in one sentence. Then, think about how you apply these lessons on an everyday basis.

I think that Mr. Gelb gives experience a short shift. Naturally, I can come up with the quintessential seven or so (as he requests) that read rather like a fifth grade biography project: when my brother was born, when my parents divorced, when took my first acting class, when I went on Outward Bound, when I worked my first job, etc.

Of course, I am coupling experience with events and they are not quite the same thing. But I think there are a number of influential experiences in my life that defy simple compartment. Either they are happy accidents (discovering my interest for the law through a last minute summer job) or experiences that have always been there and always drive me - my love of the ocean and wind, relationships with those I take care of - and those I’ve learned to let take care of me.

I re-discover myself daily with the batch of lessons that I have acquired and collected throughout my short life and certainly have many more to learn and to develop and to cherish. So, I would like to, as I usually do, address this in my own way.

What lessons have I learned today? Over time, my experiences have led me to a certain indulgence when I feel low or tired and this past year, I’ve let myself indulge more frequently than usual. Today, however, when I had a planned shop for necessary items (suddenly, I’m wearing a suit every day and am woefully unprepared), though not dire ones, and was falling into my regular justification, I paused. I took a deep breath and thought about what I was doing and how I was feeling and realized that today was not a day for sympathy shopping. And so here I am, indulging in something I love just as well - creating new dishes from found items in my home - and satisfying the feeling that I am having today.

Living in the moment. It is an incomparable feeling and a lesson or an experience to constantly strive for. I believe that the sum of my most influential experiences fall here under this category. I have learned to make lemonade from my life’s lemons, to celebrate the windfalls, and I’m always striving to listen to myself and take care of what needs nurturing today.

And in the scheme of learning to think like Leonardo, this might be an exceptionally valuable quest. He was curious about everything; he asked questions about everything as it was happening with a fresh eye. Questioning and experiencing and examining are all essential portions of living in the moment. And he, if I may say so, was a master.

tags: Leo, dimostrazione

Dissemble. (verb)

1. To disguise or conceal behind a false appearance. See Synonyms at disguise.
2. To make a false show of; feign.

v. intr.

To disguise or conceal one’s real nature, motives, or feelings behind a false appearance.

According to Wonkette, this was not only a recent word of the day (perhaps W gets credit for trying), but it was also botched seriously by the Commander in Chief. Please note, readers all, that one of the definitions of the above word (something I believe was on the list in middle school or early high school at the latest) does not include “take things apart” as one might attribute to the word - “dissassemble.”

Leo cared greatly about a lexicon of one’s own. And I value mine greatly. But frankly, neither Leo nor myself made up words or ventured to use them without properly looking them up or at least attempting to properly pronounce them.

tags: bushisms, politics, english, words

So, having run astray from my original motivation on this here blog, I am back with the next step of Michael Gelb’s foray into Leo’s expertise.

Dimostrazione. In essence, this is the art of challenging views - both those of others and one’s own. I have a lot to get through here, and it’s definitely the most vulnerable. Also, the least interesting, since the next section “Sensazione” deals with the pleasures of the senses and may be the section upon which I hang this blog’s hat.

But, to get me going and to ensure that I plow through this project that I signed myself up for - here is the Dimostrazione self-assemessment with my comments.

1. I am willing to acknowledge my mistakes. - C: To a fault.

2. My closest friends would agree that I am willing to acknowledge my mistakes. - C: Some would. I know my loving SO gets infuriated when I acknowledge my faults clearly and succinctly. It takes the edge off.

3. I learn from my mistakes and rarely make the same mistakes twice. - C: This is a difficult one. I’ve learned some difficult people mistakes, but I find it harder to learn from my mistakes where only I am concerned (my work habits, lifestyle habits, etc.).

4. I question “conventional wisdom” and authority. - C: again, to a fault.

5. When a celebrity I admire endorses a product, I am more likely to buy it. - C: I’d like to say no. But my love of acupuncuture was affirmed by Kristin Davis and I immediately revisited (though again rejected) the Fat Flush Plan when Jennifer Garner (repeatedly) endorsed it in Self Magazine.

6. I can articulate my most fundamental beliefs and the reasons I hold them. - C: My beliefs are solid. Why do I hold them? I do struggle because I find a lot of my arguments based in emotion. Desperately difficult for a law student. But this I am working on. So I’m halfway there, Leo.

7. I have changed a deeply held belief because of practical experience. - C: I can’t think of one, but this is very “me”. I am much more “qualitative” than “quantitative” and take personal experience seriously.

8. I perserve in the face of obstacles - C: again - one I work on.

9. I view adversity as an opportunity for growth. - C: absolutely.

10. I am sometimes susceptible to superstition. - C: yes. I have to discover how this fits in, but I am supersitious, or at least willing to go along with old fashion superstitions.

11. In considering gnew idea, my friends would say I am…(out of three choices) - this is hard to decide. I would say that they think that I am “gullible and “New-Agey” because I am interested in seeking out old world knowledge and fringe “technologies” particularly in regards to health and wellness. On the other hand, I think my friends would say that I am an “open-minded skeptic” without my input. (The final choice is “closed-minded cynic”).

How about you?

tags: Leonardo da Vinci, dimostrazione, beliefs