Having My Way
4. Life Styles
LIFE STYLES
We live in deeds, not years, in thoughts, not breaths; . . . He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.
—GAMALIEL BAILEY
Some authors are praised more for their style than for the content of their work; others are criticized for the lack of style. According to Longfellow, “With many readers, brilliancy of style passes for affluence of thought; they mistake buttercups in the grass for immeasurable gold mines underground.”
There are styles in music ranging from Bach to rock.
Observe how styles have changed in paintings: from communicative art such as Raphael’s “The School of Athens” to the noncommunicative works of Picasso and others of the “modern school.”
Hairdos and dress? How styles have changed from this to that, to nothing—and back again!
My concern, however, is not so much with changing styles in dress or art as with swings in thinking for self, nobility of mind, acting one’s best—the changes in style of life. Shifts in life styles appear to be as extreme as those cited above—though perhaps not as easily noted or measured. The question is, are the changes in life style the result of the same type of force as are the changes in dress? Are we dragged from freedom into authoritarianism or lifted from authoritarianism to freedom by the same influences that shift us from communicative to noncommunicative art and back again? If so, we should learn what these forces and influences are.
Perhaps the German poet, Schiller, glimpsed the answer: “Man is an imitative creature, and whoever is foremost leads the herd.” Whether the movement is good or bad, upward or downward, there is always someone who is foremost, at the head of the class. The millions, for the most part, are imitators; they follow the leader. As to the style in dresses, for instance, it was not that millions of women simultaneously thought of and adopted mini-skirts. Some designer had a notion and it “caught on.” Similarly, it was not that millions of farmers demanded in unison that they be paid for not growing food. A politician or bureaucrat had a “bright idea” which farmers then took to be their “right.” Styles of whatever kind are set in this manner.
Parenthetically, styles in all fields appear to deteriorate or improve, to go up and down together—as if in an elevator. We note morality, religion, newscasting, poetry, art, economic thinking, or whatever, ascending or descending as if in a package. For instance, we do not observe statesmanship on the upswing while education is on the downswing. All of history seems to confirm this pattern of relatedness in styles; a renaissance follows the “dark ages”; then a decline, succeeded in turn by an era of progress; and so on. Action, reaction; evolution, devolution!
Be it noted, also, that the masses of people feel as certain of their righteousness when their situation is deteriorating as when it is improving. The millions have no more doubt about their rectitude when they are falling into authoritarianism—slavery—than when they are rising and becoming free and self-responsible. It is imitation in either situation! There is, wrote Van Wyck Brooks, “the illusion that to be modern is worth all the other virtues; . . . as if to keep up with the mode were more important than any of the great realities of life. . . .” Keeping up with the mode or the style is the form of influence that sways the countless millions who do no thinking for themselves.
The solution, if there be one, is to change the life style. But how in heaven’s name can this be done? A clue is to be found in this sage observation:
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly and one by one.1
The right course can be pursued only when it is recognized that the recovery of senses is a one-by-one process. Never has there been a massive upward swing in intelligence and righteousness. Rather, we find always the one, the style-setter, the foremost—in combination with the masses of imitators.
Setting the style for the downward swings is as easy as falling off a log: simply refuse to think, practice bad habits, repeat nonsense, cater to weakness and greed. The upward swing, on the other hand, is as difficult as the other is easy. Falling is simply “letting yourself go”; rising demands the exercise of every talent and virtue within one’s reach. A higher life style calls for the person “who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.” The foremost!
Who might that individual be? He might be the one you see in the mirror! True, the countless millions tend to be imitators; yet each of us is potentially a style-setter. Every one of us has hidden talents unknown to others—or even to ourselves! The problem is to unmask or release that talent, and this has to be an “inside job.”
There is only one way to look at this problem: that person could be you or me. In the absence of such a possibility, there can be no style-setter of any account, no one of sufficient magnetism or attractiveness to start the upswing. This is to say that no one is warranted in his rising expectations unless he is preparing himself to serve as exemplar. The matter is far too urgent to “let George do it”; each person is accountable for himself.
So, let anyone who is really concerned reflect on his own solution, namely, unmasking, releasing his hidden talents. But where will he find the formula? I recently stumbled onto an answer and referred to it as “the law of readiness.”2 Original? Hardly! According to an ancient Hindu saying, “When the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear.” To my way of thinking, that is an important truth and, as Emerson wrote, “The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.” Thinking of ourselves as pupils, which doubtless we should, how do we ready ourselves that the teacher may appear? What are the successive steps to becoming a style-setter?
To unmask, to release one’s hidden talents, seems to require that he become a pupil. Anyone who is unable or unwilling to undertake the effort and joy of learning is well advised to forget the subject here in question, for he seems destined to stay with the herd, the imitators. No teacher ever appears to a know-it-all or to one who cares not.
Who is the teacher that will appear when the pupil is ready? The answer is shrouded in mystery. Might as well ask: from whence comes insight? How explain an intuitive thought? There are forces at work about which we know nothing—except that they are at work! At the moment of readiness, a book will appear, or someone will drop a relevant remark. Indeed, the idea one seeks may come in a dream. The teacher in these instances? Who knows! Edison, Henry Poincare, and ever so many other creative individuals have acknowledged the mystery. They concede that ideas come to them “as if from out of the blue.” The “teacher,” as the term is used here, is an enlightenment regardless of the form in which it shows forth. Does all of this sound unbelievable? Perhaps it is to anyone who has walled himself off from such experiences, but conviction comes when the matter is put to the test. The proof will be disclosed as the effort is made.
Conceded, no two persons achieve readiness in the same way. It appears to be a natural or inherited trait with a few. Observe child prodigies—“to the manner born.” They come onto this earth already unmasked; their talents are not hidden. The mill run of us, however, are not thus graced. Nothing short of a disciplined, conscious effort can break down the walls and permit an escape from mediocrity. Here are some of the steps to readiness which have worked to some extent for me.
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The first requirement, as I see it, is nothing less than a passionate, prayerful desire to realize one’s potentialities, to tap the resources within. To be unresponsive to this urgency is to spend one’s years with the undiscovered self.
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Desire for readiness, by itself, is useless. It’s like craving for “all this and heaven too” without striving. Said Franklin, “He that lives on hopes will die fasting.” Any realization of the desire must be backed up, accompanied by, indefatigable and joyful effort. If it isn’t joyful nothing will happen—the mask won’t lift, the teacher will not appear.
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The goal of readiness must have top priority. One eats, sleeps, exercises, earns a living, saves, reads, listens, even chooses conversationists, not as ends in themselves but as means to this noble goal. Otherwise, the promise that “the teacher will appear” is but pretty phrasing, the words of a dreamer.
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Rid the self of distractions that the eye may be focused on the object; get all chores into the past tense pronto! The teacher puts in no appearance amidst shambles, be they on the desk or in the mind. Clear the decks!
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So the mind is barren! What else is there to think through, you say? Confess this plight and make a simple plea for a clue: “If you please.” Confess to and ask from whom? The ever-seeking self is sufficient. If the preparations be adequate, the teacher will appear and in short order, as if by magic. “Seek and ye shall find.” If in doubt, try it!
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Yes, the teacher will appear announcing the subject to be explored—but just the subject and nothing more. The teacher will go no further—enlightenment will not begin—until the pupil begins. This is to say that the teacher can send no thoughts until the pupil’s receiving set is turned on and tuned in. Of what does this machinery consist? Pure and undisturbed concentration on the subject that has been announced! And persistence! Regardless of how dark the outlook or how hopeless the prospects of success, try, try and try again. Presto, the light! Off comes the mask! Behold, the discovered self!
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The technique of trying? Put the ideas on paper; resort to the written word. This makes it possible for the ever-seeking self to capture all that comes to mind and put it in orderly sequence. As each step is spelled out and recorded, the next step becomes obvious.
The above are my steps to readiness, set forth with the hope that, perchance, they might serve another. As Shakespeare said, “Readiness is all.” Readiness is indeed all if one aspires to be a style-setter—the foremost. And why not? Is there a nobler earthly goal than this? Why should not everyone spend his years with the world’s most important person—the discovered self!
