The death of some people looms large because through their extraordinary deeds they’ve been able to touch an unusually high number of people. As a basketball fan I’ve been watching Kobe Bryant from afar, mesmorized by his talent and relentless work ethic.
It must have been just one week ago when I watched Matt Barnes’ and Stephen Jackson’s interview with him. After Kobe finished his active NBA career he seemd to have made such a smooth transition into new areas where he could channel is incredible determination to seek excellence, e.g. movie making.
Tomorrow is never promised.
Category: people
The Gap
This is well worth watching: an old and a young soldier sharing their journey. This has “meaningful conversation” and “being human” written all over it.
We humans
We humans are remarkably different, e.g. in what we look like, what we think about and what we feel. We build our worldviews through nurture and nature and come to create a life so distinct from one another. Beneath all this there are a lot of similarities, though. According to Abraham Maslow,we all crave to satisfy our physiological needs, our need for safety, for love & belonging, for esteem and for self-actualization.
What is particularly fascinating is how differently we humans we can respond to the same occurrence, e.g. a serious illness. As Viktor Frankl wrote in his book Man’s Search for Meaning: “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
I recently watched a documentary named Dealt. Its a story about Richard Turner, one of the world’s greatest card magicians, despite being blind! Its a magnificent story about resilience, determination and about how tenderness and vulnerability open up a path towards being more human.
Addendum, 17 December 2018: here is a link to a podcast interview with Richard, Episode 124 of The Human Experience podcast.
The Sword Maker
I see beauty and sense soulfulness when people fully engage in a craft that involves handmade production. It evokes a deep appreciation for the courage to make art because it can be quite scary. Why? Because it might not work.