and I've realized that some of the most admirable people to me
(whether they're friend or foe)
are those who act on their knowledge.
Russell Brand seems to be one of those; Malcolm X too,
and of course, Shaykh Hamza too I think.
I really want to be one of those people --
to keep learning, and then to keep transforming into the best version of me.
In this documentary by Russell Brand (FYI also currently available on Netflix),
you get to see how open, honest, real, and straightforward he is
about wanting to change things but being receptive to what other people say
and trying to get to the core of things to solve them.
Respect! It's for people like this.
(by the way, do you hear the opening musical beat that usually
comes with a new episode of Peaky Blinders? hehe...)
Near the end of this documentary, Russell says,
"I know a thing now. I know a thing.
And once I know a thing, I don't like all this meandering and nonsense;
why are we kowtow-ing to... and pretending we don't know..."
yes, precisely. And we have the very logical politician telling Russell,
yes, change will happen, it's just baby steps. But it will.
(Standard ministry response! ahah.)
We were just talking about something similar last weekend at book club;
that our female protagonist Forugh Forrakhzad from Song of a Captive Bird,
was admittedly quite unlikeable and sometimes downright terrible as a person
(we all hated her at some point; haha, M hated her so much it was hilarious),
but that regardless, I really recognized this admirable trait in her;
this passion, and conviction, and honesty to live by what you believe;
and like I said, it's amazing to behold in a person, friend or foe.
And it reminds me once again, of my subconscious list for what makes greatness in a person,
and this trait that I observe, falls into what I meant by sincerity. To recap, from observation, it appears to me that the recipe for greatness requires:
Sincerity (which includes authenticity and acting on your knowledge)
Courage
Wit
Discipline
And now I'm actually thinking what's missing and should be added to it is:
Empathy.
Without empathy, I'm thinking you might be great, but you might not be loved. Hmmmm.
Ja! To be further inspired in this world.
No comments:
Post a Comment