What is it that keeps us going when times get tough? For some it`s religion, for others family and friends. It could be sheer determination or anger, love or the need to prove ourselves. One of the definitions of courage in my Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1976) that I like is “the heart as the seat of intelligence or feeling.” Courage is often associated with great deeds – a rescue from drowning or fire, valour in war, bravery under fire. It is also needed in less dramatic times.
Paul Tillich (he was a theologian and thinker born in Germany in 1886, served as a military chaplain in World War I, emigrated to New York in 1933, taught at various universities, and died in 1965) wrote and had published in 1952 a book called The Courage to Be. In the book he explores various definitions and contexts, including Being, Nonbeing and Anxiety, Courage and Participation, The Courage to be as Oneself, and so on. This is not an easy read, but requires tenacity and thought with (hopefully) the result of broadening the mind and opening the heart. Whether you are religious not or spiritual or not, Tillich helps to shine a light on life.
Life requires courage every day – leaving home to go to school, dealing with a bully, riding the bus for the first time on your own, the first job, going camping alone, climbing a mountain, persevering with a creative dream despite rejections – we each have many examples in our lives of that kind of courage.
I’m thinking particularly about those of us who choose to make some kind of living in the arts – writers, visual artists, composers – the ones who often work alone, determine their own projects, create the daily discipline to accomplish the work, and then send it out to be rejected or accepted. At times it feels as if the rejections occur most often, and there are days when I wonder if I should find a regular job again; get a pay check I can count on. That’s when courage is required, the fanning of the spark of determination, reminding yourself that you have succeeded in the past and will again, that the dream is worth pursuing.
“He (she) who risks and fails can be forgiven. He who never risks and never fails is a failure in his whole being.” – Paul Tillich
I believe that even the great and mighty Bruce Lee has something to say about the courage required to just be: "But to experience oneself honestly, not lying to oneself, and to express oneself honestly, now that is very hard to do."
ReplyDeleteIt's funny to think that most people likely struggle with this everyday; it should be easy to be, but it isn't.
And by "be" I mean be the person we each know we are, which would often mean going against societal norms. Going against the grain is always risky. Without those people brave enough to take these risks, would any art exist in this world?
ReplyDeleteThanks Shanna, I too like Bruce Lee's view. In the same vein, I like the book Zen in the Martial Arts.
ReplyDelete