I recently had the pleasure
of photographing a boxer.
During the shoot he told me about
his first experience with boxing.
He was interested in learning to box
so he contacted an instructor,
arranged a time,
and showed up as planned.
With no prior instruction
he put on boxing gloves
and stepped into the
ring with the trainer...
... who punched him in the face
and knocked him flat on his back.
Not sure what to do,
he stood up...
... and was promptly
knocked back down...
... four more times!
He admits that after being
knocked down the first time
he was not really "all there"
and had a referee been present
he would never have been
allowed to get back up.
But he did.
I admire his fortitude
(but not his foolisness).
In thinking about fighting
I consider how our vocabulary
can reveal much about us.
Take politicians for example.
They often identify
in military terms;
everything is a fight.
I hear expressed a desire to
"wage a war"
on terror, crime and drugs
while "fighting"
opponents, the other party, changes
and whoever is unpopular at the moment.
I hear promises
to be victorious
in battles
against all adversaries.
I don't often hear expressed a
"willingness to work"
to resolve issues.
Maybe beating things into
submission requires less
energy than working to
achieve common goals?
I don't know.
And who knows,
maybe after the
first couple of knock downs
we have become so addled
that we don't hear what's
being said?
I'm pretty sure that
if a referee was present
he would notice that
we are "not all here"
and he would not allow us
to get back up...
... for more of the same.
Rather than so much being knocked down and getting up again (although I've done some of that health-wise), I would prefer thinking I have reinvented myself. Facing traits I did not like (such as trying to please everyone), I have set out to allow myself to be the essence of "Thom-ness" and have found that I like me.
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