bread&tea

Leadership is an interesting topic. Why do we follow them? What inspires them? How do they inspire us? Maybe this is not the proper way to begin, because I actually don't intend to answer any of those questions. Rather, what does it take to be a leader? Well I'm no example, but here's a story that can be. It was time for another wood gathering expedition. As usual, many people of all ages trundled around favoring their own tools for collecting wood. From the younger ones with nothing more than tough gloves, through eager youths with axes, (a somewhat unstable combination) to grown-ups trying to pretend that their chainsaws were not toys. Yet trundling about was all that was accomplished. They had gathered at the pick-ups, old beaters and new alike (referring to pick-ups and people). Now they awaited something. Or someone rather. Off to the side the director was briefing a young lad who frequented the acreage. There was a slight uncertainty behind the young eyes, but it wa...

Noah Webster is one of my role models, for a number of reasons. Here's a 1-page quickie I did about him for school. Thought you might find it somewhat interesting. September 15, 2010 Edited and Finalized September 20, 2010 Noah Webster There are many reasons to respect Noah Webster as a role model. He was, like the founding fathers, a man of great character. This is of importance to remember when reading about his accomplishments. Noah was a lover of language, which he saw as the use of words and their meaning to influence others. Let’s look at a few ways he did that. America did not always have a common tongue. Noah Webster’s speller, commonly known as the blue back speller, is what caused this. Noah was able to provide a distinctive American centered schoolbook, and it caught on. Over sixty million copies eventually spread out into America. This book offered an excellent, organized resource, which in addition to teaching spelling, also instilled patriotism for America. ...

'Tis still the season for campfires every now and then. Although it is a little more dangerous with all the fall winds and dry crops. Had a nice campfire last week, and since it was a brushwood pile, it needed frequent replenishing. After I had finally put a log on instead of small branches, it died with time. But one smallish flame remained. I couldn't help but notice that it seemed to shine exceptionally bright against the darkness. Upon reflection, it wasn't that the flame was any brighter really, it was simply a greater contrast. Similarly, I think that a single person can perhaps shine in a sharper contrast to darkness than a group can. Not in a greater way, but perhaps in a more distinct way. It's not that I'm suggesting that a group of dedicated people make less of an impression than a single person. But that while a conflagration lights up a great deal, a single flame simply shows a more extreme difference. If light is common, then what is so special about i...

You know those people that influence you without even trying? And I mean in a good way. How do they do that? Sometimes they don't even look at you or say anything to you, you just notice them. I hope to frame one reason for how they do this by the end this post. Hopefully. :-) Here's the dangerous generalization I made in part one, "You, and I, are impacting in some way, every person we come into contact with." The trick is making that a good impact. It could be said that there are three ways that impact comes across to people. Good, neutral, and bad. Neutrality is passive though, and what arises from that, is how can something without any meaningful difference be of any worth? If it's not worth anything, then it's a waste of time that could have been a meaningful, or good, difference. So whether neutral is neutral, or actually just more bad impact, is debatable. Another way to see it, neutrality most of the time, is just indifference to others' existence...

It's usually pretty fun to think about and figure out personalitys. Things like, "Are you lasagna, spaghetti, elbow, or ramen noodles? A mole, muskrat, otter, or platypus? A where-is-it, when-is-it, why-is-it, or what-the-heck-now-is-it?" Or, are you fire, wind, earth, or water? After all that you might just be as confused as I was creating it. That somewhat-intelligent-sounding gibberish is all just different ways of putting the four roles people slide into as personalitys. The roles of supporter, director, thinker, or entertainer. To be sure, there's plenty of room for people to slosh around in those four areas, and overlap in multiple categories, but everybody's more or less in there somewhere. While all that is/can't/could be interesting, what's more important is applying it. Of course that's implied, but I want to suggest something different that works well in tandem. The concept of figuring out not only your personality, but why you do the things...

Have you ever been disappointed by a listener? That time when you have something you just gotta share, and a certain someone you want to share it with, (or frequently anyone) only to be received by a less than hoped for audience. It's a terrible feeling. I regret to say that not only has that happened to me, I have often been that less-than-hoped-for audience. There's a good chance that listener actually wanted to listen. Of course wannabe and actual do-ers are quite different. It takes more than wanting to listen, to listen well. I hope I'm not taking this verse to much out of context, but 1 Corinthians 14:19 (NIV) says, "But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue." In other words, here are some bullet points to make things go faster. First, eye contact. Simple, yes, but terribly effective. (in a good way) The difficulty is in not staring at who's speaking. It is a good idea to infr...