It just occurred to me, I was recalling how I missed my friend Rick, and your assignment was to think about who your Dick Wilkins is. Coincidence? Hmm… If I try and distill what I link to Rick, it would be the joy of school, and the joy of the road. As we got our driver’s licenses and graduated high school, we went on frequent road trips and discovered the freedom of adulthood together. I loved learning, loved the atmosphere of school, I even liked most of my teacher’s and the whole structure of school and everything being on a schedule. I liked school so much that I got my teaching certification and taught graduate courses in an MBA program. As noted earlier, I love road trips so I seem to have carried both of those forwards. Maybe that is why even after I have not seen him in over 40 years, I think of him as one of my closest friends ever. I am trying to bring that joy of being among friends at school to create a similar feel at work.
Who was your version of Dick Wilkins (or your Rick!)? Did this remind you of something in your childhood that brought you joy? Did this person align to a period in your life that you want to get back to? What is it about this period that calls to you? Did this person remind you of a work that you enjoyed and brought out new skills in you? Life is funny. We love to romanticize the past, look forward to the future but are told to learn to live in the now. The point of the exercise is to help you understand yourself better by looking at important people in your past and see what that tells you about where you could “improve”. Improve could be going back to an earlier you that was closer to the true you or learning from the past to help you improve a weakness/fault.
This Week’s Talk
Dicken’s doesn’t spend a lot of time developing this scene regarding the reminiscence about Dick and maybe that is a lesson in great writing. Less is more! Seems to me there is much that can be expanded upon but certainly that would make this a different book if all threads got developed further. Just a bit after the positive reflection on his friend Dick, Scrooge becomes engaged in the party festivities and forgets about being a curmudgeon. As Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past are observing festivities at Fezziwig’s, we read “Scrooge acted like a man out of his wits. His heart and soul were in the scene, and with his former self.” I think this is a really important message; “His former self”. How powerful. Life takes its toll on us, and we can drift away from our better traits, from our former selves. Thus, all the work around understanding our former self.
This Week’s Assignment
“A small matter said the ghost…to make these silly folks so full of gratitude.” Scrooge and the ghost have a discussion around how it can be that Scrooge found so much joy in this event even though it didn’t cost a lot of money. During this exchange, Scrooge is more like his former self. He sees the joy and impact that Fezziwig had on his life through how he treated him and related to him. Scrooge reflects fondly out of… respect and perhaps even love, not from money or power. Scrooge reflects back briefly and thinks about how he treated Cratchit earlier that day. During in an exchange with the spirit Scrooge says…” I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now.”
What is your equivalent experience where you were the giver and saw that a small gesture brought much joy to someone else? If you can’t think of one, then what was the situation when you found much joy in receiving something that was of little monetary value? Reflect on how you can recognize these opportunities to bring joy without having to spend a lot of money as well as how you can allow others to feel the joy of giving by being a good receiver of their generosity.
See you next week…