I’ve been thinking a lot about travel recently—because I like to do it, because I’m not doing it now, and because I will be doing it soon and am very behind in my planning!
the view from our hotel rooftop in Florence, Italy
As such, the theme for Wise Words for April will be just that: travel.
photo taken by my son at the Alhambra (Granada, Spain)
I’ll start this week by posting my thoughts about this quote by Mark Twain:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
It’s a powerful statement, isn’t it? I’m looking forward to writing about it. I’d love to read your thoughts on it, too. If you’d like to weigh in, you can link up here on Wednesday (details on the Wise Words discussion here).
Is anyone else as amazed as I am by the many and varied perspectives we all have? On Wednesday, I wrote about how hard it can be for me to choose being kind over being right, depending on the circumstances. I had a lot of fun contemplating Anne Lamott’s quote, “You can either practice being right or practice being kind.” But even better, I loved reading these other writers’ responses.
photo by srqpix of Jason Luper mural
Velveteen Mama disagreed a bit with Anne Lamott and argued that “the crux is our dependency on the outcome.”
In her post, SusieJ described how taking her boys to a church they like–not the one she would choose–has been a surprise blessing.
And Mayberry Mom just made me laugh, as she agreed that it’s difficult “to let go of being right when it doesn’t really matter,” but insisted that how we load the dishwasher does matter!
“‘Tis better to be alone, than in bad company.” -George Washington
Some of us like being alone more than others. I’m in the former camp. Me, a book, a burger, and a beer? Beautiful! There are few things I like better than slipping away for an evening out by myself to relish anonymity and quiet among the crowds.
When I think of us echoing George Washington’s words–perhaps to our children–I think that sometimes words are easy for us to say simply because they’re catchy. We hear a phrase we like, we latch onto it and repeat it without ever stopping to think about what it really means.
But when George Washington says, “’Tis better to be alone, than in bad company,” what does he mean by “bad company”? Who defines “bad”? Because none of us really think we’re spending our free time hanging out with shady characters, do we?
As I thought about this idea, I considered my own friendships. I thought about the ebb and flow, about how sometimes I take more and sometimes I give more. I thought about the time I sat across from my girlfriend and poured my parenting heart out while she listened and encouraged me to hang in there. I thought about the time I spent comforting another friend, whose husband decided that 15 years of marriage was enough for him. I thought about how this ebb and flow is critical to long-term friendship, because none of us can be on the giving side all of the time. And if you’re not taking sometimes, you’re not giving your friends the opportunity to really know you, so you’re not developing a long-term friendship after all. You’re just having coffee.
As I pondered this, I began to wonder about those people—the ones who are always givers or always takers—and I wondered if they fall in the “bad company” category?
Would it be better to spend time alone?
Link up below with your thoughts on these wise words (details here).
