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Memoirs

I have always been a fan of memoir, although I am a bit fussy as to what I enjoy. My current favorites are Michael Palin's three volumes and those of Alec Guinness.

Humility, actual true humility---accepting with open eyes one's strengths and weaknesses---is a-if-not-the major factor of what I look for. Truly great and interesting people have depth to them, have learned from their mistakes, have accepted and fought against all the best of things. Memoirs by politicians are the opposite---the need to be right in retrospect at all times feels so desperate and petty to me.

I find articulation to be a form of meditation and therapy, clarifying for me who I am in terms of what I care about. With trusted friends good non-casual conversations bring that out in me, but as an introvert I often turn to journaling. Well-written memoirs serve as a template for me.

I have been journaling since I went away to university. I finished high school a year early and felt only secure about my academics in leaving home at such an early age. Journaling back then was necessary in ways that very few people in my life understand.

My life has taken me where I did not think I would go. While I hoped for a loving family of my own I feared that my near-terminal shyness would prevent my finding a life-partner, of being open and vulnerable to children were we so-blessed. Yet here I am with loving wife and children.

I NEVER expected to stand in front of folk and attempt to lead them and yet my career has frequently dipped into those waters. I never expected to use writing as a tool to advocate to others and yet that is almost a daily occurrence now. I never expected people to feel comfortable sharing their stories with me beyond the surface and now am entering my fifth year as faculty ombudsperson, a role I will say that I do well.

I have no intention of publishing my memoirs, beyond these (scarcely seen) blog posts, but I have grown more and more appreciative of them for helping me to chart my way through paths unknown to me.

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