An interesting exercise - at any time in your life - is to ask yourself, "If there were no constraints, what would I really like to do when I grow up?" I've done this several times in my life and the answer seems to change with time and experience.
During this period of enforced leisure - I have certainly not been idle! - the answer to this question kind of caught me off guard. It all started years ago when I got interested in public education. One book led to another and pretty soon I had purchased a set of the 'Great Books of the Western World' published by Britannica and edited by Hutchins and Adler. I've been slowly working my way through those over the ensuing years.
Along the way I served a term on the local school board and absolutely loved the experience. I also had the good fortune to spend over a decade talking to alumni of St. John's, a small great books college with campuses in Annapolis, MD and Santa Fe, NM on their alumni email list. They were most gracious in allowing me to join their conversation.
Over the years I have come to appreciate the intrinsic value of a liberal arts education. Indeed, contrary to all the talking heads and politicians, I would assert that, while a focus on math and science excellence are important to the future well being of our nation, those disciplines are weakened substantially when not anchored to a solid liberal arts foundation. Technical detail absent an appreciation of our humanity seems to me a sterile, if not dangerous, situation. Not to mention the fact that we are learning slowly and painfully that silo's of technical excellence serve as barriers to progress in an increasingly complex world.
So the answer to the question, "What next?" was shaped by these experiences. And the answer is, drum roll please, "When I grow up I want to be president of a small liberal arts college."
In the next few posts I'll publish some of the public comments and papers I've written. I am interested in your feedback on my ideas. Some are naive I am sure since they were written early on in my awakening to the importance of the great ideas. But there is some substance contained in the papers and your thoughts and observations are coveted as part and parcel of my preparations to pursue this next chapter in my adventure.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
An Interesting Couple of Weeks
Boarding the plane at Washington National I was still relishing the weekend I'd just spent with my oldest daughter and her husband and kids down in North Carolina. That visit was prompted by a job offer in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emerites that would have me leaving the country within a couple of weeks. The offer was very sweet. Not only were the pay and benefits excellent, my bride would be able to join me at the end of the current school year - for as long as we wanted to stay in the Middle East.
My flight took me through Milwaukee and as I left the airplane I reflexively reached for my cell phone to check email. There was an email from the company I was going to work for and I figured it would provide flight details. I opened the email and much to my surprise found that it informed me that the customer had canceled the job and the offer was retracted. Jeez!
Since I was on my way out to Phoenix to see my mom and sister and the tickets were already paid for, I chose to continue on. After sending my wife a copy of the email to let her know the latest status I boarded the flight and arrived in Phoenix without incident. Spent an wonderful week with mom. She had recently moved to a retirement community and it was absolutely stunning. The staff were well trained, friendly and helpful and mom had decorated her one bedroom efficiency tastefully, quite a restful space. We had a great two day visit and I got to see my sister and her husband as well.
Then I hopped a flight to El Paso to attend my youngest daughter's change of command ceremony. A Captain in the Army, Rachell was taking command of a Military Intelligence Company in the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Armored Division. Most definitely a red letter day in her career and I was thrilled to be there. As I watched the rehearsals memories of my days as a rifle company commander flooded back. Rachell and I had a great time talking about the challenges she would face and she was very patient with my enthusiasm.
I met David, her boyfriend while I was there, and as expected, David asked for Rachell's hand in marriage. After a heart-to-heart talk I told David I was sorry but I couldn't give him my permission because it was not mine to give. I savored the stunned look and then explained very carefully that Eva and I had talked this possibility over before I'd left and we had agreed to provide our permission. We wanted David to understand very clearly that marriage in our family was a two person affair. The relief that flooded his face was almost palpable. Later on I let Rachell know about our conversation and she was as happy as David to have that behind them!
After two days in El Paso I strapped another aircraft to my posterior and flew off to a connecting flight in Houston. When I landed there, same drill, pull out the cell phone and check emails. Hmmm, that's interesting, a note from one of the companies that included me in a proposal a while back. Congratulations, you have a job!
So I left Virginia with a job in Abu Dhabi and returned home with a job not ten minutes from my house. Ain't life grand?!
But the story doesn't end here...while I am thrilled to have a job, I started the process of redefining myself during the layoff by asking myself what I would do if there were no constraints. The answer surprised and intrigued me enough that I am well into a rebranding and marketing campaign to pursue that dream. We'll see...no telling how long or how successful that effort will be. At least now I'm contributing again.
In the next few posts I'll give you an idea of where I'm headed.
My flight took me through Milwaukee and as I left the airplane I reflexively reached for my cell phone to check email. There was an email from the company I was going to work for and I figured it would provide flight details. I opened the email and much to my surprise found that it informed me that the customer had canceled the job and the offer was retracted. Jeez!
Since I was on my way out to Phoenix to see my mom and sister and the tickets were already paid for, I chose to continue on. After sending my wife a copy of the email to let her know the latest status I boarded the flight and arrived in Phoenix without incident. Spent an wonderful week with mom. She had recently moved to a retirement community and it was absolutely stunning. The staff were well trained, friendly and helpful and mom had decorated her one bedroom efficiency tastefully, quite a restful space. We had a great two day visit and I got to see my sister and her husband as well.
Then I hopped a flight to El Paso to attend my youngest daughter's change of command ceremony. A Captain in the Army, Rachell was taking command of a Military Intelligence Company in the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Armored Division. Most definitely a red letter day in her career and I was thrilled to be there. As I watched the rehearsals memories of my days as a rifle company commander flooded back. Rachell and I had a great time talking about the challenges she would face and she was very patient with my enthusiasm.
I met David, her boyfriend while I was there, and as expected, David asked for Rachell's hand in marriage. After a heart-to-heart talk I told David I was sorry but I couldn't give him my permission because it was not mine to give. I savored the stunned look and then explained very carefully that Eva and I had talked this possibility over before I'd left and we had agreed to provide our permission. We wanted David to understand very clearly that marriage in our family was a two person affair. The relief that flooded his face was almost palpable. Later on I let Rachell know about our conversation and she was as happy as David to have that behind them!
After two days in El Paso I strapped another aircraft to my posterior and flew off to a connecting flight in Houston. When I landed there, same drill, pull out the cell phone and check emails. Hmmm, that's interesting, a note from one of the companies that included me in a proposal a while back. Congratulations, you have a job!
So I left Virginia with a job in Abu Dhabi and returned home with a job not ten minutes from my house. Ain't life grand?!
But the story doesn't end here...while I am thrilled to have a job, I started the process of redefining myself during the layoff by asking myself what I would do if there were no constraints. The answer surprised and intrigued me enough that I am well into a rebranding and marketing campaign to pursue that dream. We'll see...no telling how long or how successful that effort will be. At least now I'm contributing again.
In the next few posts I'll give you an idea of where I'm headed.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
When I Die...
One of the joys of being laid off lies in the time to read and think about what I've read. It's been a long time since I've had the time to carefully read and digest something that interests me.
In fact, it's been so long that I have developed habits that are hard to defeat. I've become use to devouring a piece quickly and moving on to the next data source with little or no time for reflection on what I've read and how it fits in the larger picture some of us call a world view. As a consequence, at least for me, my worldview tends to get fuzzy and in need of repair on a regular basis. What do I really believe? Why? How do I work new knowledge into what I already know, especially if it is contradictory yet believable? With precious little time for this hard work it's not hard to understand why so many of us tend to be mentally and intellectually fractured, frazzled, and fuzzy.
So anyway, I just finished reading an article by Connie Barlow, "Death, Budgets, and Intergenerational Justice" (http://bit.ly/pqFR77). Ms Barlow argues that our medical system guarantees long life, lived in awful conditions and at great expenese for many of us. She argues that we need to have the courage to meet our end with joy and without needless, expensive artificial extension.
Got me to thinking about 'ends.' We all experience as we grow, HS graduation, college graduation, end of child bearing age, end of a marriage, loss of a friend or loved one. Barlow argues that as a society we are afraid of our own final end and that is reflected in our medical extension of life - often absent any quality or purpose.
That sure seemed to fit my dad's end. Dad died of Parkinson's disease and over about a five or six year period I watched a 6'1" Marine's Marine shrivel physically and mentally. While he maintained a certain mental acuity, he also suffered from afternoon disorientation. At one point early on, he wandered out into the back yard, fell, could not get up, and only by the grace of God, did we discover him before he died of exposure. After that we watched him like a hawk to prevent another re-occurence and to prevent him from taking the car and hurting himself and someone else. Barlow observes that in days gone by, loved ones might let someone in dad's condition wander off for a 'natural' death and that was more humane than extending life without quality and at horrendous cost.
I was also reminded of the prolonged, heartbreaking passing of one of my most influential mentors. This Marine suffered a stroke on the operating table and spent almost a year completely paralyzed and unable to speak. I remember several conversations with this giant in my life where we both agreed that we didn't want to be kept alive artificially. Yet he lingered for over a year, mind active, but trapped in a useless body. Ugh.
That brings us to the threshold of the huge debate about whether or not the medical profession or government should play a role in those decisions. It's not my purpose to address that here.
What I do want to address is fairly simply stated. It's my prayer that my wife and children will afford me the luxury of dying without unnatural life extension or heroic efforts. I don't want to linger without purpose or quality of life, I don't want to be a burden. So if I contract Parkinson's and tend to wander in the afternoons. Let me go, let me die with dignity...please.
In fact, it's been so long that I have developed habits that are hard to defeat. I've become use to devouring a piece quickly and moving on to the next data source with little or no time for reflection on what I've read and how it fits in the larger picture some of us call a world view. As a consequence, at least for me, my worldview tends to get fuzzy and in need of repair on a regular basis. What do I really believe? Why? How do I work new knowledge into what I already know, especially if it is contradictory yet believable? With precious little time for this hard work it's not hard to understand why so many of us tend to be mentally and intellectually fractured, frazzled, and fuzzy.
So anyway, I just finished reading an article by Connie Barlow, "Death, Budgets, and Intergenerational Justice" (http://bit.ly/pqFR77). Ms Barlow argues that our medical system guarantees long life, lived in awful conditions and at great expenese for many of us. She argues that we need to have the courage to meet our end with joy and without needless, expensive artificial extension.
Got me to thinking about 'ends.' We all experience as we grow, HS graduation, college graduation, end of child bearing age, end of a marriage, loss of a friend or loved one. Barlow argues that as a society we are afraid of our own final end and that is reflected in our medical extension of life - often absent any quality or purpose.
That sure seemed to fit my dad's end. Dad died of Parkinson's disease and over about a five or six year period I watched a 6'1" Marine's Marine shrivel physically and mentally. While he maintained a certain mental acuity, he also suffered from afternoon disorientation. At one point early on, he wandered out into the back yard, fell, could not get up, and only by the grace of God, did we discover him before he died of exposure. After that we watched him like a hawk to prevent another re-occurence and to prevent him from taking the car and hurting himself and someone else. Barlow observes that in days gone by, loved ones might let someone in dad's condition wander off for a 'natural' death and that was more humane than extending life without quality and at horrendous cost.
I was also reminded of the prolonged, heartbreaking passing of one of my most influential mentors. This Marine suffered a stroke on the operating table and spent almost a year completely paralyzed and unable to speak. I remember several conversations with this giant in my life where we both agreed that we didn't want to be kept alive artificially. Yet he lingered for over a year, mind active, but trapped in a useless body. Ugh.
That brings us to the threshold of the huge debate about whether or not the medical profession or government should play a role in those decisions. It's not my purpose to address that here.
What I do want to address is fairly simply stated. It's my prayer that my wife and children will afford me the luxury of dying without unnatural life extension or heroic efforts. I don't want to linger without purpose or quality of life, I don't want to be a burden. So if I contract Parkinson's and tend to wander in the afternoons. Let me go, let me die with dignity...please.
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