Reply To: An insight into human nature
Those are three great examples, Nancy, and they had resonated with me as well. I believe that knowledge is indeed powerful; it’s necessary for understanding, for clear thinking and judgments, and to banish fear. When I worked in critical care as a nurse, I was expected to take on a lot of personal responsibility and do a lot of frankly, very scary things to other people that if done incorrectly, could cause grievous harm, including death. My remedy was to learn everything I could about what scared me, and practice until it no longer did. With knowledge came the power to understand and react without being paralyzed by doubts and fears. It’s so important to understand what is happening and why, how one thing affects another, and what to do if things go wrong. That can apply to so many of life’s lessons.
I was also affected strongly by the second statement you chose—“That given direction, clear expectations, and encouragement, given a second chance, people could flourish.” I have always enjoyed LP’s emphasis on this concept in her writing, and love that Armand is a collector of people who require that second chance, and do so well. This also applied to me as a young nurse– I had zero medical background when I went into that field, and was often way behind my fellow students who often had someone in the family who was in the profession, and seemed to understand so much more. I didn’t know squat when I got there, and had a hard time figuring out what was important and what was not. Some of my instructors weren’t very patient with me, and I started to feel pretty low about myself and my confidence ebbed. But I was fortunate to come across a couple of people who did exactly what’s mentioned in that statement– I was given that direction, the expectations, and encouragement, and I did indeed end up flourishing, much to my surprise!
And your third example had given me much food for thought as well when I’d read it. I love history, and I often think about how one thing leads to another, time and time again, and yet humanity often fails to heed the lesson. I think it’s particularly pertinent at this stage of the world’s development (or perhaps, it’s destruction). I wonder how things like mass genocide, blatant cruelty, overreaching greed and lust for power, etc. can come about, become accepted, by so many. And when I read the statement about darkness, and how we adjust to it, I was moved, and recognized the truth in it. We are often much like the frog in the frying pan, accepting the little changes here and there and getting used to that reality, without looking at the big picture and where it is ultimately leading us. I love that LP has included so many thought-provoking statements like this in her books. Through the wisdom of characters like Armand, we can be reminded of so many important concepts, and we can learn as we are entertained.
Finally, I just want to say that the gift you gave your students on that sad day was priceless. Emotional development is just as important as intellectual development, if we are to be well-rounded people. You gave those students what they needed most on a day like that; brava!
