That is the ultimate taming—the idea that we have to live not to disappoint our parents—that we have to live their lives, their ideas, their values, instead of discovering and living our own. I was talking to Liz about this awhile back, and she told me to think hard about the word disappoint. If you’re scared of disappointing your parent, that means you’ve already “appointed” them the guide of your life. So to disappoint is actually dis-appointing them and re-appointing yourself.
