“When mentally fragile I like to drive to a far city, say at least a few hundred miles from any of the three modest places my family lives, check in to a somewhat pathetic brand-name motel with the pleasant feeling that I wouldn’t know a single soul in the local phone book. And that my own phone won’t ring except in the case of a dire event because my wife is well aware of my motives for staying in the anonymous room. Here I have shorn myself of my support systems and there is a fairly good chance that in a day or two I’ll discover the etiology of what ails me, keeping in mind that the overexamined life is also not worth living.”
– Jim Harrison, Off to the Side
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“But I don’t use other people as a reference for where I’m at. I never do that; I never have. I think that’s a mistake.
It doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate somebody else’s performance—or, in a business, appreciate somebody else’s success. I just think that, ultimately, if I believe myself to be so different, or even if it’s something that’s similar—it’s me doing it.
You can’t expect to be the only one that has a good idea. With all the people in the world, the idea that someone somewhere wouldn’t have similar ideas simultaneously? I think that’s unrealistic—it’s going to happen.
But you are the difference. Similar becomes different when an individual takes it and makes it.
I can see how using someone as a reference or benchmark might boost you a little bit—if somebody’s having a success in your area, you check them out—or you try something someone else is doing and you think, That’s interesting, that’s cool—but you have to make it your own.
Your unique twist will always be unique—it will always be something special.”
– Laird Hamilton, LIFERIDER
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It’s vitally important to recognise when I am not feeling my best and I need to do to restore myself.
Time to myself is essential. I need some solitary existence.
I can relate to Jim Harrison’s need to get away from his day to day responsibilities, to renew himself.
I cannot jump in my car and disappear for days at a time. It’s not a practical possibility and I don’t desire the break from my family.
Yet I still need to get away, from time to time.
What do I do?
A modest walk down to the seafront where I live, usually accompanied by an audiobook or podcast.
These walks are usually about an hour in duration. No time at all really.
But they provide me with all the time I need to hit reset.
I return invigorated from the fresh air and exercise. It does me good to stare at the distant horizon over the sea.
I might have learned something interesting or inspiring through my earphones.
I don’t want to mimick another’s practice but I feel free to be inspired.
Jim Harrison reminds me I need to get away to renew my soul.
Laird Hamilton reminds me that my body is remarkable and it needs to be used in unison with my mind.
But I am not Jim Harrison. I don’t wish to smoke American Spirit cigarettes and drink and eat myself into a state of gout.
Nor am I Laird Hamilton. I don’t wish to spend most of my life on the ocean, taking risks and pushing my body to its limits.
By reading widely I increase the chance of being reminded of the obvious.
But I am never obliged to follow in another’s footsteps.
It’s more exciting to make my own.
Conversations With Quotations 