Met a Kenyan chap called Daniel D'uwa at the Storymoja Hay Festival over the weekend, he was helping a friend at the event, but is a producer/writer. We started talking about what we do, why we are where we are...etc. I explained that I've moved around the world, and am now in Kenya because I was interested in doing something more social...he asked me politely afterwards "what are you running from?" The question caught me off guard because I didn't get the relevancy, so we got into a bit of bantering on whether or not I'm running from anything at all. In my mind, I wasn't running away from things, but on a journey searching for something bigger and more meaningful. I don't know what it is, but figuring that out is part of the journey. However, the more we talked about this "running away" subject, the more it starts to make me think. Daniel believes that everyone is running from something, they may not know it, but they are. Putting aside whether that theory is valid or not, I think the question is worth asking oneself even if the eventual answer is "I'm not running away from anything"...
Since I can't answer the question myself, I asked him what is HE running from? He said, "I'm not sure, but I think I'm running from greatness"...while I found the answer a bit arrogant, I always find it admirable to see confidence from people who have had very little compare to the rest of the world yet believe they can achieve so much.
The idea of running away from "greatness" was intriguing, and struck a chord with me. To me, "greatness" as the ability to achieve great things through leadership, to mobilize resource beyond oneself, and to guide others to achieve greatness themselves. People that have achieved this that come to mind are Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, and the likes. There are many people in the world who are extremely intelligent, compassionate and capable to make a big difference, but there are very few that has the courage to lead and actually achieve "greatness". (of course, on the flip side, there are also lots of people who has the courage to lead, but are leading without a lot of capability/intellect/compassion, so end up screwing up the world). "Greatness" is not scary when it's so far out of one's reach, it's something romantic, something to aspire to. Greatness is also not scary when you're already determine to achieve it, despite of whether you will succeed or not. To me, "greatness" is scariest at the inflection point when someone is in a position where he/she realizes there's a potential for him/her to achieve greatness, and I believe the sense of tremendous responsibility and the risk of failing, of disappointing others is what make it scary...
Thinking back, I can think of many people I've met who are extremely smart, well educated, and decided to stick to a well-paid 8 to 5 job and a stable suburban life, nothing wrong with that, however, many of them are deeply dissatisfied with all the things going on around their community and in the world despite of their nice lives. I belong to this camp myself, and think that eventually I just want a simple job, a simple family life...however, are we running from achieving greatness by settling for an easy life? We are all very lucky to have what we have and get to where we are today...great education, secure jobs, good network of successful friends...isn't there a level of burden and responsibility that comes with it, especially if we are seeing things in the world that's unjust and bothers us...if we have the ability to make a change, even if it's a small one, should we go for it because if we don't, who will? Are we running from our own version of "greatness" sometimes?
So, what are you running from?
Since I can't answer the question myself, I asked him what is HE running from? He said, "I'm not sure, but I think I'm running from greatness"...while I found the answer a bit arrogant, I always find it admirable to see confidence from people who have had very little compare to the rest of the world yet believe they can achieve so much.
The idea of running away from "greatness" was intriguing, and struck a chord with me. To me, "greatness" as the ability to achieve great things through leadership, to mobilize resource beyond oneself, and to guide others to achieve greatness themselves. People that have achieved this that come to mind are Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, and the likes. There are many people in the world who are extremely intelligent, compassionate and capable to make a big difference, but there are very few that has the courage to lead and actually achieve "greatness". (of course, on the flip side, there are also lots of people who has the courage to lead, but are leading without a lot of capability/intellect/compassion, so end up screwing up the world). "Greatness" is not scary when it's so far out of one's reach, it's something romantic, something to aspire to. Greatness is also not scary when you're already determine to achieve it, despite of whether you will succeed or not. To me, "greatness" is scariest at the inflection point when someone is in a position where he/she realizes there's a potential for him/her to achieve greatness, and I believe the sense of tremendous responsibility and the risk of failing, of disappointing others is what make it scary...
Thinking back, I can think of many people I've met who are extremely smart, well educated, and decided to stick to a well-paid 8 to 5 job and a stable suburban life, nothing wrong with that, however, many of them are deeply dissatisfied with all the things going on around their community and in the world despite of their nice lives. I belong to this camp myself, and think that eventually I just want a simple job, a simple family life...however, are we running from achieving greatness by settling for an easy life? We are all very lucky to have what we have and get to where we are today...great education, secure jobs, good network of successful friends...isn't there a level of burden and responsibility that comes with it, especially if we are seeing things in the world that's unjust and bothers us...if we have the ability to make a change, even if it's a small one, should we go for it because if we don't, who will? Are we running from our own version of "greatness" sometimes?
So, what are you running from?
Good read - kudos to you Arlin! Highly relevant questions that I ask myself a lot these days also. There are a number of dimensions in our lives that we could optimize for. Do we put our own comfort first or do we drive at something larger? Do we have the responsibility to spread our impact beyond our immediate circle of family and friends because of all the privileges we happen to have received? In the end I suppose we are all maximizing happiness (for ourselves, but also for others - the correlation between the two being stronger for some than for others); where happiness, however, has so many drivers and facets that the entire concept becomes rather difficult to tackle. All the best in Kenya! I'll give you a buzz if I decide to drop by :) Cheers Xiao
ReplyDeleteHmmm..I'm just about ready to go for a delayed morning run but your post really struck a chord with me. Firstly, you remind me that I really lost an opportunity when I first went to CPT and started the Khaya Cookie Co. to start a blog. Ok..well, in 1999 this same great technology wasn't quite available and I keep vowing to myself to get on the bandwagon and get started with one. So, before I veer from my point too much...what are we running from? I am not surprised that a very artistic local, well-known person sent that question as a jolt your way. Yes, of course it is meant as a bit of shock therapy for the receiver and I think it also meant as a bit of entertainment for the person who asks. I don't think in a malicious way but people love to be "shock jocks". So as a seeker of greatness what is my take on this? I have walked your path Arlin. I can feel the energy and excitement in each post and get so excited when I read them.
ReplyDeleteI do not think you are running from anything. I think it is that at exactly this time in life what you seek happens to be located some 10,000 miles away. What you seek next may be 10 miles away. That is just how life works. When I sought to change lives 10 years ago Africa was what I lived and breathed. That is where I had to be in order to make the impact I needed to do something I considered "great". Now, I would like to help create jobs at home so I may be doing something a bit more local. I don't buy into the fact that we are running away from greatness but we are running to the things, people and places that need us the most...just depends who needs us the most and where our heart is calling to us at the point in time.
Thank you for sharing your incredible adventures Arlin. Alicia