Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 77

PELEE ISLAND: A LIVING METAPHOR WE IGNORE AT OUR PERIL

Hmmm, would we treat this fragile planet differently if we came to fully appreciate how interdependent we are with the other creatures and living things with which we share Mother Earth?

I've just returned from a few days spent on Lake Erie's Pelee Island – the most southern area of Canada. Pelee Island, a 90 minute ferry ride from the mainland, is home to many creatures, trees and plants not found anywhere else in this country.

I went there in search of a couple of butterflies that call Pelee Island home – the Hackberry Emperor and the Tawny Emperor. So why does these two beauties occur nowhere else in Ontario?

The answer lies in the interdependent relationships in nature. All butterflies are associated with specific plants or trees on which they lay their eggs and on which their larvae feed. Hackberry and Tawny Emperors are associated with the Hackberry Tree which appears nowhere else in Ontario other than Pelee Island.

Hackberry Trees grow well in the unique Alvar habitats – a thin layer of soil on top of limestone – which are characteristic of the island. But how did Hackberry Trees come to be on Pelee Island? It is quite possible they found a home there because of migrating birds. Pelee is a major stopover for many migrating birds in the spring as they make the lengthy and difficult crossing of Lake Erie.

Some of these birds are seed eaters. They make many stops, on the journey from the southern U.S. or South America, to rest and feed. Seeds which they consume on the northward journey may be expelled in their droppings during their Pelee Island stopover. Hence, trees or plants, which would otherwise not occur on an island, find a home there.

And so, if seed eating birds become extinct, no seeds are transported to new places during the wonder of migration. No Hackberry seeds transported to Pelee Island means no Hackberry Trees and, consequently, no Hackberry or Tawny Emperors. Interdependence is a governing factor in nature but it doesn't stop there.

Pelee Island is well known for its winery. Grapes grown there produce world-renowned wines. This is possible, in part, because Pelee Island is located at an ideal latitude for vineyards – equally close to the equator as parts of Northern California and Spain.

Other factors also come into play. The nutrients in limestone (found in Alvar habitats) are ideal for vineyards. But how can you get these nutrients out of the limestone? Viticulture experts plant weeds between the rows of grapevines. These weeds take root in the limestone and draw out the nutrients. The weeds are then cut down, left to decay and release their nutrients into the soil for the grapevines. Interdependence at work again.

One more example. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes. The waters of Lake Erie therefore heat up considerably during the summer. In the latter parts of the year, when the weather becomes cooler, Lake Erie acts as a thermal blanket releasing heat to the island which extends the grape growing season.

Human beings have a profound impact on Mother Earth. We have, unfortunately, the power to disrupt many of nature's intricate interdependencies. All too often we consume without regard for the effect our consumption is having on the earth.

Pelee Island is a living metaphor for the wonderful and delicate interdependencies which underlie the health of our planet. We need to count these interdependencies are blessings and consider ourselves as guardians of them.

We have the power to sustain or destroy. Let us choose the latter.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog. Visit www.smashwords.com to download a free preview of the e-book version.

~ Subscribe to "Michael's Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm" at its' internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the "Subscribe to this Blog: How To" instructions page in the right sidebar. If you're reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

~ Send comments or questions to michael@mdyetmetaphor.com.

Flights of Fancy & Flights of Purpose Each in Their Own Time

Hmmm, in this fast-paced, hurry-up-or-be-left-behind society in which we live, how do we squeeze the most of each day without shortchanging tomorrow?

I've become increasingly aware in the last year or two of the fragility of life and our tenuous grip on it. It seems like every day something happens to remind me and raises the ante on what I ought to experience before my head hits the pillow again.

Cancer. Is there a more humbling and disconcerting reality check than the increasing prevalence of this unforgiving disease? In the last year or two, several people that I know have received the diagnosis. Thankfully most of them were diagnosed in time to be treated and recover. But a few are not so fortunate.

I'm heartened that medical research has made steady advances in treating cancer. But there still is no cure. If ever there was a definitive argument for living in the moment, surely – I tell myself – cancer is it.

And there are so many other things that make tomorrow a worrisome uncertainty. The earthquake in Japan. An uneasy world economy that seems destined to forever spin on the head of a pin and tumble on a moment's notice. Mass murders in Norway. The city of Slave Lake destroyed by wildfires. I could go on and on.

At times it seems that I should throw caution to the wind and squeeze every last drop out of today. Why worry about a tomorrow with such uncertainty hovering around it?

I try that approach now and then. Grabbing everything I can get from the moment I wake to the moment I fall asleep. "Live like you were dying", as the popular country song suggests. It works for a little while. But I simply don't have the energy to sustain that frenetic pace. The thrill ride runs out of gas all too quickly.

So I try the flip side of the coin. Take a day and choose to simply do nothing of any consequence. Kick back, relax and let the rest of the world go madly on past me. Be serene and purposefully inactive. But very quickly the "to do" items pile up and I realize I'm stealing my serenity at tomorrow's expense.

Always I arrive at the same conclusion. I can't outrun the dangers that may be waiting around the next corner. Nor can I close the doors and pretend that they don't exist. The secret formula– to the extent that it exists at all – must lie in the art of balance.

It seems to me that those people who are truly happy and serene are those who have found equilibrium. They celebrate the joys that come their way without delay. But they also work to plant the seeds for tomorrow knowing that each of us has to earn our way every day.

I often turn to nature for my metaphors and find myself doing so again.

One my favourite dragonflies is the Darner. Darners are constant fliers. On a scorching hot summer day, you'll see them patrolling a meadow in seemingly endless, untiring flights. Back and forth. Up and down. In loops and spirals. Even hovering occasionally.

But when a darner perchs, it will stay put for some time. Hanging patiently from a branch in what seems to be perfect rest.

I aspire to live my life by the Darner Metaphor. Long and industrious flights. Flights of fancy and flights of purpose. Making the most of sunny afternoons. Resting when the moment calls for it. But always aware that equilibrium is of my own making and that I must never stop working at it until my head falls upon the pillow for the last time.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog. Visit www.smashwords.com to download a free preview of the e-book version.

~ Subscribe to "Michael's Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm" at its' internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the "Subscribe to this Blog: How To" instructions page in the right sidebar. If you're reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

~ Send comments or questions to michael@mdyetmetaphor.com.

ATMs, Voice Mail Labyrinths and Online Anonymity

Hmmm, how far off is the day when we will have to go out of our way to find a living, breathing person to speak with?

This question percolated to the surface of my thoughts today as I was navigating through one of those labyrinthine corporate voice mail systems. You know the drill. One menu after another taking you deeper and deeper into the fearsome bowels of the beast until you wonder if you'll ever find your way out.

In the beginning, these systems were designed to give you quick answers to common questions so you didn't have to hang on the line waiting for an operator. But now they seem expressly designed to block you from ever speaking to a real person.

I fully expect one day to hear the irritatingly pleasant recorded voice say: "No one is available to take your call. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever. Please choose from the menu options, visit our website or simply go to hell. Thank you for calling. BEEP!!!"

Everywhere I go I find barricades to human interaction. Banks do not want you to come inside the building. Everything short of robbing the bank can be done at the ATM. Or, better yet, do it online. Give us your money and then go away. Far away. Someplace we can't see or hear you. That's the message I get.

For years we've had to pump or own gas. Now they have ATM functionality right in the pumps. I refuse to go that route. If I have to pay an arm and a leg (and three fingers) to fill up my tank, somebody is bloody well going to take the ten seconds it takes to process my payment. But I'm sure the day will come when there is no attendant.

No more attendants at provincial parks and conservation areas either. You'd better have a functioning credit card to shove into the machine or you won't get in. By all means, commune with nature and all its wonderful creatures. But please don't disturb the staff. They have better things to do.

Self-serve. Do it yourself. Insert card here. Choose from the following menu options. All our customer service representatives are busy. (All one of them) Use our website shopping cart program. Complete the online form. Leave a message at the beep.

I can see the day coming in the not too distant future where you will be able to go through an entire week without ever conversing with a real person. It all seems rather dehumanizing to me.

Call it the ATM metaphor. Fast, streamlined, ultra efficient, no human intervention required. That seems to be the road we're headed down. I'm worried about what lies at the end of that road. It's easy to lie, cheat, steal or defraud your neighbour when you never ever have to look him the eye.

Technology is supposed to make our lives better. But we're fast becoming slaves to it. Maybe it's time for a sober second look… before the ATM becomes our best, and perhaps only, friend.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to "Michael's Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm" at its' internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the "Subscribe to this Blog: How To" instructions page in the right sidebar. If you're reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

~ Send comments or questions to michael@mdyetmetaphor.com.

IN QUEST OF THE METAPHOR ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE

The complexity of things – the things within things – just seems to be endless. I mean nothing is easy, nothing is simple. ~ Alice Munro, Canadian Writer

Hmmm, in a typical backyard, there can be as many as 1,000 different insects at any given time. If there is that degree of complexity right outside our door, how can we possibly make sense of the world in which we live?

This conundrum works its way into my consciousness from time to time against my will. In general, I like to keep things as simple as possible. Unknowns, unsolvable puzzles and loose threads dangling without reason can make me profoundly uncomfortable.

Yes, I know that the need to make sense of things is universal. But some of us have a more urgent pull in that direction. We feel cognitive dissonance more acutely than others.

The evolution of knowledge is toward simplicity, not complexity.  ~ L. Ron Hubbard, American Science Fiction Writer, Founder of Scientology

I'd very much like to believe that Hubbard is right. I have an analytical mind which revolts against ambiguity. I habitually attempt to break complex situations down into their component parts and extract simplicity from them. Order from chaos. Clarity from confusion.

Sometimes I'm successful at this process. At those moments, it feels like I have my life under control. But every now and then something comes along that defies categorization. I can't find logic in it anywhere and that leaves me adrift.

It may well be that my love of nature arises at least in part from my yearning for order. There is infinite complexity in nature. But within that complexity there is harmony. All things are connected and interrelated. Each species makes sense as part of the continuum.

Three reasons problems are inevitable; first, we live in a world of growing complexity and diversity; second, we interact with people; and third, we cannot control all the situations we face.  ~ John C. Maxwell, American Entrepreneur and Author

Human relationships are one of those situations that often defy reason. The reality is each of us is perfectly unique – an unpredictable collection of desires, likes and dislikes and idiosyncrasies. Some of us, of course, are more idiosyncratic than others. And yes, I am one of that breed.

I'm quite certain that my need to write is born out of the compulsion to wring reason out of the dizzying complexity of the world and that intangible, indefinable, delightful thing called love. I am forever searching for the metaphor that will leap across the great divide and make sense of it all.

The perfect metaphor. Perhaps it is a fool's quest. But oh, what bliss if I should discover it!

Literature is the human activity that takes the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty. ~ Lionel Trlling, American Critic, Author and Teacher

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog. Visit www.smashwords.com to download a free preview of the e-book version.

~ Subscribe to "Michael's Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm" at its' internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the "Subscribe to this Blog: How To" instructions page in the right sidebar. If you're reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

~ Send comments or questions to michael@mdyetmetaphor.com.

Random Act of Metaphor: The Rapture of a Blissful Mockingbird

Hmmm, when was the last time you did something simply for the pure joy of the act itself?

I was out for a short walk after lunch earlier this week. Up ahead I heard the unmistakable, repetitive call of a Mockingbird. Mockingbirds are talented mimics. They string together a variety of bird songs in a continuous melody.

I zeroed in on the call and located this Mockingbird perched on the top of a street light pole. He was running through his full repertoire with what could only be described as exuberance. I knew he wasn't singing to attract a mate since it is well past the mating season.

I'm convinced that this Mockingbird was serenading the neighbourhood for no other reason than the pure joy of singing. It was a beautiful summer day and it seemed he wanted the world to know he was blissfully happy.

In our madcap, hurly-burly world, our 'To Do' lists never seem to get done. We're continuously racing the clock to squeeze in all the need-to-do tasks. By the time we make it to the bottom of the list, the item at the top needs doing again.

Every now and then we need to push the pause button and indulge in something that feeds our soul. It doesn't really matter what act we chose. It need only be a purely selfish, otherwise purposeless activity that unleashes the dormant wellspring of joy within us.

The rapture of a blissful Mockingbird – a random act of metaphor to remind us that life is short and that joy comes not often enough unless we willfully extend an invitation.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog. Visit www.smashwords.com to download a free preview of the e-book version.

~ Subscribe to "Michael's Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm" at its' internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the "Subscribe to this Blog: How To" instructions page in the right sidebar. If you're reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

~ Send comments or questions to michael@mdyetmetaphor.com.

Filibusters, Feather Dusters and Posturing Politicians

Hmmm, is it just me or is the House of Commons (that's our federal parliament, for my non-Canadian readers) beginning to resemble a sandbox squabble between five year olds?

It was inevitable that the standoff between Canada Post and the Canadian Union (CUPW) of Postal Workers would land in parliament's lap. Before I go any further, let me make it clear that I'm not taking sides on the issue. Canada Post has real sustainability issues that it must manage. CUPW is honestly trying to protect the rights of its workers.

The escalating bitterness between the two parties was disturbing enough in itself. But the real circus began when Canada Post locked out its' workers forcing the government to step in with a back-to-work bill. You could sense the politicians sharpening their rhetoric and practicing their posturing in anticipation of a good old-fashioned parliamentary, sandbox catfight.

Stephen Harper and the Conservatives rang the bell, swaggering with their majority government, by including legislated wage increases in the bill that are less than what Canada Post had offered. Jack Layton and the NDP answered the bell vowing to defeat the legislation.

Back to the negotiating table the two parties went. Nobody in their right mind expected them to reach an agreement as they are miles apart on the major issues. But they had to jump through the hoops for appearance's sake.

Then the debate in the House begins literarily around the clock. A mere formality since the Conservatives can push through the bill with their majority. But not before the NDP plays the infamous "filibuster" card. One NDP member after another, all 103 of them, making 20 or 30 minute speeches for the express purpose of delaying the inevitable.

There is so much posturing going on in the House that they may just get nominated for an Emmy Award. Unfortunately, the filibustering, blustering and posturing is about as effective as a feather duster in a Sahara Desert sand storm.

Meanwhile, we sit back exasperated as our tax dollars, which pay the MPs salaries, are burning in the bonfire of rhetoric. Is it any wonder politicians regularly find themselves in the top 10 list of most disliked professions?

Attention Mr. Harper and Mr. Layton: We, the electorate, respectfully suggest that you get out of the sandbox and start acting like responsible adults. Your time and efforts (and our money) would be much better invested if you put aside your political agendas, sat down in good faith and used your collective intellect to find a win-win solution.

At this moment in time, our "distinguished" House of Commons is a metaphor for a sandbox squabble. We would prefer that it be a metaphor for the good will and tolerance for which Canadians are known.

Holster your egos, grow up and show us you deserve to be where you are. We put our trust in you. It's time you lived up to it.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog. Visit www.smashwords.com to download a free preview of the e-book version.

~ Subscribe to "Michael's Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm" at its' internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the "Subscribe to this Blog: How To" instructions page in the right sidebar. If you're reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

~ Send comments or questions to michael@mdyetmetaphor.com.

LOOKING BACKWARD THROUGH THE CRYSTAL BALL

Hmmm, imagine that twenty five years ago you looked into a crystal ball and saw the person that you would become a quarter century down the line. How would you have reacted?

I allow myself to entertain ponderous questions like this one from time to time. It's not exactly soul searching. It's a case of taking stock of the circumstances I have landed in and whether I let opportunities slip by that might have propelled me elsewhere.

Don't mistake me. I am quite content with who I have become and the life that I lead. I've learned to accept who I am with equanimity. Yes, of course, I'd love to win the lottery and have the luxury to indulge all my passions. But I won't be terribly upset if that windfall doesn't come my way.

Truth be told, I've never been the type of person who sees a clearly defined path laid out for them and sets out to pursue it. I've never been able to look that far ahead. Is that a shortcoming? Some might say it is. But I prefer to believe that some of us are destined to find our way along a few steps at a time.

But back to my original premise. The crystal ball – a glimpse of the future – a chance to change the course and pre-write the future.

There are definitely some things I would have been dismayed to see in my future. A failed marriage. No children. Not owning a home. No doubt I would be thinking: "Can't let that happen! I've got to find a way to reconfigure that course of events."

So let's suppose that I made a sharp turn to nudge my fate in a more favourable direction? Picture it. I'm married with children. I have a home and a mortgage. All the ingredients of a fulfilled life.

But what if, despite all these blessings, I awake each morning with the question: "Who am I? Why don't I recognize this person I've become? I really ought to be happy. But I'm not."

The longer I live the more inclined I am to believe that the only reliable path in life is being true to your self. For some of us, that means letting go of the traditional expectations and accepting that we are meant to be a little, or a lot, to the right or to the left of "normal".

It takes a few mistakes and some notable failures to come to that realization. Those experiences teach us that attempting to contort ourselves to fit into the round holes is destined to run us aground. We're just not made in that mold.

Those of us who are destined to go our own way have our own crystal ball metaphor. We look backwards through the crystal ball to that time 25 years ago and think:

"So that's why I didn't go to the senior prom. I was already on a different path. And now, at last, I'm at peace with who I am. Not odd, it turns out, but unique."

Be true to yourself. Everything else takes care of itself.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to "Michael's Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm" at its' internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the "Subscribe to this Blog: How To" instructions page in the right sidebar. If you're reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

~ Send comments or questions to michael@mdyetmetaphor.com.

JOY IN THE FLEETING MOMENT: 5 Minutes of Heaven on Earth

Hmmm, what was the most exciting five minutes of your life?

This question came up in a church-related small group in which I participate. (The context was that heaven would be like those five minutes forever and ever.) Most of the group answered it was the birth of their first child. I don't have children so that wasn't an option for me.

I pondered the question awhile both during and after the group meeting. But I couldn't put my finger on any experience that would fit the bill.

I've had some proud moments along the way – winning a few awards for the proverbial few minutes of fame. Those were certainly highlight reel moments in my life. But the most exciting five minutes? I can't honestly say that any of those experiences fit the bill.

I suppose I could be disconcerted by this realization. After 50+ years on this planet, there isn't one experience I can point to that rises head and shoulders above the rest. Does that mean my life has fallen short of expectations? Some might argue that it does.

But there is another way of looking at the equation. Perhaps I'm wired in such a way that my joys are measured out in smaller helpings. (I am admittedly a bit of an anomaly – some might say unconventional or even eccentric – in the spectrum of personalities. I realized that truth and came to terms with it some time ago.)

I find pleasure in simple moments that might not register on the conventional Richter Scale of life altering experiences:

Focusing my binoculars on a butterfly and realizing it is the uncommon (dare I say rare) Hickory Hairstreak. Returning to the exact same spot a year later and finding it again.

Coming upon a specimen of the blue mosaic darner dragonflies – ten plus dragonflies that are all but identical – and assembling field marks, habitat and behaviour to determine which one it is.

Turning a corner on a woodland trail on a drizzly spring day and finding a fallout of extravagantly coloured warblers cavorting in the bushes and singing with abandon.

None of these experiences would qualify as the most exciting five minutes of my life. But truth be told, I wouldn't exchange any one of them – let alone all of them – for the promise of one overwhelming moment.

Perhaps the most exciting five minutes of my life is still ahead of me. Or perhaps it will never happen. It just may be that for me joy is the continuum of small, exhilarating experiences of the minutia of life.

This much I know. Each of those brief, exhilarating moments is a metaphor in itself for the importance of cherishing joy when and where you find it. Heaven on earth may just be finding that Hickory Hairstreak a third time in the exact same spot.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to "Michael's Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm" at its' internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the "Subscribe to this Blog: How To" instructions page in the right sidebar. If you're reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

~ Send comments or questions to michael@mdyetmetaphor.com.

WITH PATIENCE COMES THE BLACK SWALLOWTAIL

Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears. ~ Barbara Johnson, American Writer

Hmmm, I wonder how many precious and wondrous jewels of experience we miss out on as we rush on to the next encounter.

I reflect often these days on our fast-paced existence and our increasingly short attention span. "If you're not moving ahead, you're falling behind." I don't know who coined that expression. But it seems to be our credo in this era of instant gratification.

Impatience is one my faults. I have a compulsion to "finish" things and move on to the next task. I get edgy and out of sorts when things bog down.

I try to step out of that mindset when I get out of the city and indulge in my passion for the intricacies of nature. Mother Nature does her best to slow my heart and open my senses to the beauty around me.

But all too often I sabotage her efforts. Take yesterday, for example.

I was out for my first butterfly and dragonfly excursion of the summer. Observing these delicate, winged creatures demands patience. They flutter and soar for minutes at a time. I have to summon my patience to wait for that rare moment when they perch.

The wait is always worth it. When I capture them in the view of my binoculars, their startling beauty and minute complexity captivates me.

I stumbled upon both a male and female Crimson-ringed Whiteface dragonfly yesterday. Brilliant crimson on the thorax of the male. Vivid yellow markings on the female. I felt a wave of peace slide over me as I gazed upon them. But a few moments later I was off again in search of the next specimen.

Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is a concentrated strength. ~ Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton, British poet, politician, critic and novelist,  1803 – 1873

How very true this is. Patience takes an act of will. I have to reprimand the imp of my restlessness. No, let's linger her a bit and see what else happens by. There! See – a Black Swallowtail butterfly. Always a joy to behold. But we would have missed it had we hurried on down the trail.

Quality – not quantity. I have to remind myself to consciously make that choice. And it always pays off. I would have missed that Racket-tailed Emerald, perched half-hidden in the leaves of the bush only a few feet away, had I not tarried a moment more.

I'm quite certain I bypassed other jewels of the air and the marshes as I gave in yet again to impatience. Surely something special lies beyond the next curve in the path. We must hurry along or it will be gone before we get there. And so, I'm off again betraying patience and its fruits.

Butterflies and dragonflies are my metaphors for patience. They teach me to pause, to linger and to live in the moment. It is, unfortunately, a lesson I seem to have to learn over and over again. Perhaps someday I'll master the art. Then, and only then, I will know true peace.

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions. ~ Rainer Marie Rilke, Austro-German lyric poet, 1875 – 1926

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog. Visit www.smashwords.com to download a free preview of the e-book version.

~ Subscribe to "Michael's Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm" at its' internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the "Subscribe to this Blog: How To" instructions page in the right sidebar. If you're reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

~ Send comments or questions to michael@mdyetmetaphor.com.

Don Cherry: "Everybody Hopes You Fail"

Hmmm, is the win-loss equation the basic currency of success in our high performance oriented society?

Today's Toronto Star ran an article on hockey broadcasting legend Don "Grapes" Cherry. It is a revealing look into the life of this "shoot from the hip" personality who has become a household name here in Canada. But one quotation in particular resonated with me.

"Television is a jungle," says Cherry, now 77. "I thought hockey was a tough business. But this is a tough business. You know why. I'm going to say it for the first time. Everybody hopes you fail."

I think that statement from 'Grapes' is more wide-reaching than he realizes. We have become a society where the measure of our worth is calculated by the margin by which we out-compete – or are out-competed by – the people in our sphere of influence.

It is certainly true in the business world. The primary goal of any for-profit company is to out-compete its' competitors. Ultimate success is defined by putting your competitors out of business and grabbing their customers.

This survival-of-the-fittest mentality spills over to employees. Every sizable corporation in this day and age operates on the "lean and mean" principle – the most production possible from the least possible number of employees.

For the employee, this means that you are always just one downsizing away from being out of work. Holding onto your job often means out-competing or outmaneuvering others at your level – or just above you – on the corporate food chain.

In short, at some level everyone around you hopes that you fail so they will survive or move up a notch in the hierarchy. They feel bad about thinking that way – although there are some who revel in it – but survival dictates behaviour.

Most of us try not to let that mentality spill over into our private lives. But it is an insidious behaviour that silently drives us in ways we don't notice. High performance becomes ingrained into our thinking.

I'll admit that I find myself competing with an invisible man at times when I'm indulging in a passion that I pursue purely for personal enjoyment. I find it very difficult to turn off the win-lose mindset even where it very clearly doesn't belong.

Those who know Don Cherry well say he is all about integrity and values and that he is trying to convince the world of the need for honour both on and off the ice. His on-air personality is not a persona. He is a this is me, take it or leave it type of guy.

Influential people can be metaphors. I believe that Don Cherry – rough around the edges though he may be – is a metaphor for honour. He may seem like an unlikely role model. But I'm going to add him to the arsenal of metaphors I use to recalibrate my take on life.

Many people may want us to fail. But we can choose, as Don Cherry does, not to play that game. If our currency of success is honour, integrity and values, we can't go far wrong.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog. Visit www.smashwords.com to download a free preview of the e-book version.

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