Musings Of A Wordsmith

I think it means to be inspiring. A Leader isn’t just someone who is in charge, not simply a boss who gives direction but a person that draws you to follow by action and example. It is important, then that we strive not to confuse the two. Just because someone possesses a position of authority does not mean they are the kind of person who should be followed without caution.

I say this as a person [I’m a person right?] who as too often been on the receiving end of plans that went awry and was forced to adapt or abandon them. In those moments I find my greatest strength is friendship. My second greatest is Stoicism, but the first does far more for me than the later.

They seemed “possessed by action.”. And that, to me, is inspiring. It’s not just knowing that people like Scarab exist, it’s knowing that I know people like Scarab

We commemorate these days to promise that we, as a people,, do not make these mistakes again in the future. We honor the martyrs by striving for a world that would not perform the same atrocities as the one of the past.

While I was there, however, I noticed several birds just fluttering about, looking for fish and being birds. To them it was just a Monday. In fact I imagine for the birds it was just “a day”.

There are, perhaps, two ways to look at such a thing. That we in our hubris have made a great event over a truly mundane thing and we should take no special joy in the turning of the calendar.

To tell you the truth I wasn’t going to do a blog today, I intended to simply pass the day in relaxation but I felt possessed to share with you a dream I had this morning.

The fact that people are “supposed” to be happy this time of year makes those of us unhappy feel worse. As though their is something wrong with us for not feeling elated. Worse we do not want to bring down the happiness for others so we suffer in silence, never reaching out to those who would comfort us for fear of being a bad person.

Suicide rises substantially at this time of year.

The creature pushed forward, trying to bowl Urk over again, but Urk held fast his hooves digging furrows through the snow as the charge slowly ground to a halt. The monster paused, as though confused that anything could stop its press and in that moment Urk struck. His ax came down. Armored plates split from the monster’s back and heat blasted into the air. The monster roared in pain and stabbed a tusk into Urk’s side.

I think I want praise. I think this quote stabs into my mind the way it does because it pokes at an uncomfortable truth. At a vice or insecurity I’d rather not admit, not to myself and certainly not to you.

But what do I choose?

Let me not be unappreciative. I am terribly happy when anyone reads my work, and some of the messages I received were truly heart warming. One reader said that seeing Al and Urk again was like visiting old friends. A higher compliment I do not know if I have ever received.

Urk took her hand again as she moved to walk away. “Tend the fire well this eve, it will be cold.”

“It’s cold every night Urk.”

Urk inhaled, the thin whiff of lightning from earlier was now chased by a touch of ice and darkness. “No, it will be cold as it has not been before. We cannot afford the heat to falter.”

Al’rashal couldn’t smell magic like he could be she had long learned to trust his intuition. She nodded, all playfulness gone as she hurried deeper into the cave.

But what of the virtues. Many people don’t know there are virtues that sit opposite them and of those who do most of us couldn’t name more than three without looking them up.

Humility, Charity, Chastity, Gratitude, Temperance, Patience, Diligence

I’m a fan of Temperance and Diligence myself.

Before we go any further I must note I am not Jewish. Like you I am not part of most religious traditions. However I do not think that precludes me from seeing the value in those traditions or their celebrations.

Unfortunately it is easy for people to forget the battles won on their behalf. To see the riches of their modern life and take it for granted, or worse not believe they need those riches. People who benefit from you taking these, things for granted will tell you, you don’t need these things and would be better off without them.

Unless you have some gift for a thing you will likely be poor at a thing when you start. The desire to give up and simply move onto something easier will be monumental. But if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly

Instead I want to talk about the “little” fears. The anxieties that hold us back, stay our hand and which we ignore because “it’s a little thing, so it’s no big deal.” But little things add up, don’t they? Each time you give in to the “little fear” you rob from yourself a little more until one day you realize you owe yourself a mountain of capitol.

That is both a strength and a weakness. As a people they(we) can go and thrive almost anywhere. However just because a population may thrive it does not mean the individual will not suffer.

Being a poisonous animal doesn’t help the one that’s eaten, it helps all the ones that are not.

It’s why almost every setting has the same identifiers for units of time, days of the week or common animals. There’s no particular reason that horse should be called a horse in some random other world except that it would cause dissonance with the readers not to.

It was the taste of lightning that drew Urkjorman from his slumber. Even before the words of Al’rashal drifted into his ears he knew the sun had dipped beyond the horizon.

“Your turn,” said Al simply as she leaned forward to offer a hand up.