It Could Happen to You

Long Term Love - Longevity and the Art of Happiness

There are happy couples, you know.  They exist right before us.  How timely to find the treasure in Poseidon's mortal consequences through Harvey and Irma’s romantic longevity.  Despite the flood and hurricanes of Harvey and Irma there exists a union with more depth than natural disasters.  Mr. and Mrs. Schluter’s longevity of 75 years will far withstand any tragedies of Harvey and Irma.

We Must Always Appreciate "2 Thumbs Up" -- At Any Price

At Any Price --2 Thumbs Up 

Last Thursday we lost Roger Ebert, the Pulitzer Prize winning film critic to a battle with cancer.  So is this of social and clinical significance?   The answer is yes, but before I attempt to discuss his legacy as socially and clinically relevant I want to share an experience that led me to think about his meaning to the contemporary American psyche. 

Over the weekend I saw the film At Any Price. This film is what one might call

Happy Birthday to This Outlier who "Payed Her Dues" and some: A Mythological Legend in Our Time.

        Malcolm Gladwell’s explorations on the 10,000 hour rule discussed in his#1 bestselling Outlier can be applied to an Iconic figure who has been in the public since her youth.  Gladwell gives evidence as to why Paul McCartney & the Beatles and Bill Gates were bound for their respective successes.  My concept of Opportunistic Emergence which is in concurrence with Gladwell’s ideas that talent and “Genius” is important but the blend of the talent with circumstance, luck or synchronicity play a necessary part in reaching the top of excellence.  I would say that other life or God-like forces and history play a part in the advancement of greatness.  But what is so obvious and often forgotten is the 10,000 hours that is required before reaching true success.

        It isn’t just “payin’ your dues” but there is actually scientific data supporting that the human brain needs approximately 10,000 hours of a specific craft, or mastery of skill to arrive to the precipice of that craft.  Because of this needed time the scale frequently tips to the side of the rich or privileged.  If the talent has parental or community resources to support him (or her) during these prerequisite hours he can go far (piano lessons or gymnastic classes can be financially costly! – and can a parent and child invest that great deal of time and incorporate it into their daily living?).  If you follow the beginnings of most Outliers you find that they

Look Ahead Baby Boomers: There is a colorful mosiac blending in America's tapestry.

Look Ahead Baby Boomers: There is a colorful mosaic blending in America's tapestry.

—By 2039, racial and ethnic minorities will make up a majority of the U.S. working-age population, helping to support a disproportionately elderly white population through Social Security and other payroll taxes. More than 1 in 4 people ages 18-64 will be Latino.

Several years ago I stated in a graduate paper “The metaphorical catching of the big fish has a process that can only happen after the relationship between the elder and youth symbolically become meshed.”  Taking this thought into a global mindset leads us to question the benefit of community. Yesterday I was reading Malcolm Gladwell’s #1 best seller Outliers in which he chronicles Roseto, Pennsylvania, a small town of Italian immigrants, in the late 1800’s. What made this town/group so fascinating was that they were all dying of “old age.”  There were no heart diseases or illness. Why? Their community was close, and their support system, extended families, and third generational bonds within nuclear families, created such a strong bond in the communal relationships that people were not just functioning better but they were happy – imagine?  What an idea! After reading an on-line article that is laced with statistics on immigration and Baby Boomers and the new face of America a thought crossed my mind.  Regardless of one’s beliefs, or politics on immigration and different cultures in the United States, we, as a country, can not move forward in a positive until we move forward with an open mind; an appreciation of our TRUE history; an appreciation for difference; an appreciation for the amends that must be made (which might be nothing more than an acknowledgement that there is noting that can be done while recognizing the past);  and a realization that “change is gonna come.”

Photo by Aaron Ang on Unsplash

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