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In no one's footsteps
Sep. 30th, 2010 12:47 pm“Who’s your idol?”
It was the mid eighties and that was the question in the neighborhood; apparently Chris and Andy’s religious schooling had warned them of making idols and part of the message had been lost. Like when they told me “Kiss is the devil!” and I responded “who’s Kiss? I listen to Def Leppard”.
More disturbing to me at the time, when asked about my idols I didn’t have an answer. Who did I admire and want to emulate? Nobody. Nothing anyone else was doing seemed to be what I was looking for in life, so I kept searching. I’ve been a seeker for most of my life, and I think this is when I started being conscious of that fact. As I’ve sought, I’ve created the person I’m becoming.
I’m not calling myself a self-made man; that’s a self-congratulatory myth people tell themselves. I’m the product of a middle class upbringing that strongly emphasized education and encouraged questioning, a foundation without which I could never have dreamt much less made dreams come true. But while I haven’t made myself, I’ve certainly imagined him.
It was the mid eighties and that was the question in the neighborhood; apparently Chris and Andy’s religious schooling had warned them of making idols and part of the message had been lost. Like when they told me “Kiss is the devil!” and I responded “who’s Kiss? I listen to Def Leppard”.
More disturbing to me at the time, when asked about my idols I didn’t have an answer. Who did I admire and want to emulate? Nobody. Nothing anyone else was doing seemed to be what I was looking for in life, so I kept searching. I’ve been a seeker for most of my life, and I think this is when I started being conscious of that fact. As I’ve sought, I’ve created the person I’m becoming.
I’m not calling myself a self-made man; that’s a self-congratulatory myth people tell themselves. I’m the product of a middle class upbringing that strongly emphasized education and encouraged questioning, a foundation without which I could never have dreamt much less made dreams come true. But while I haven’t made myself, I’ve certainly imagined him.
