I re-listened to Quiet by Susan Cain while at work today. It reminded me of a concept that I had never heard of before this book. It states that the idea of a culture of character being replaced by a culture of personality in the 1900s is from Warren Susman. Cain wrote,”In the Culture of Character, the ideal self was serious, disciplined, and honorable. What counted was not so much the impression one made in public as how one behaved in private. The word personality didn’t exist in English until the eighteenth century, and the idea of ‘having a good personality’ was not widespread until the twentieth. But when they embraced the Culture of Personality, Americans started to focus on how others perceived them.” (Pg. 21)
This part made me wonder if I live in the wrong time except that I like being able to vote. So, I can’t live in a time before women got the right to vote and other rights.
Ms. Cain shared that the industrial revolution encouraged this shift. I have a book titled Getting on in the World that I am curious to read in order to see if it focuses on character more than personality or charisma.
I watched a video by Lauren of the Living with Schizophrenia YouTube channel. She shared her most recent hospital stay due to schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder. Since I had thought about going into the hospital for my sleeping problem cause by depression, I was very interested to learn more about what it could have been like. While I could go to sleep just fine, I’d wake up way to early every morning. Then, I couldn’t go back to sleep except rarely. My brain would just start talking nonsense to me and I couldn’t get it to make sense. So, I started working with my employee assistance program in order to get therapy. One office that I called offered hospitalization when they heard me describing the sleeping problem and me desperate need for therapy. I know that my voice had become flat too. It sounded tempting almost like it would free me from some of my stress but I said, “No.” She sounds so honest about the struggle in the ER to get treatment. In a previous video, she showed her hospital room which looked okay to me. So, the video made me feel like hospitalization is more of a option if I ever need it.
Her description of her delusional thinking reminded me of a conversation that I had with my psychiatrist once. I told him that I was having odd thoughts of monsters coming out of my shower drain. I knew that the thinking was untrue but the thinking and feeling of a presence was very strong. I thought that I was losing my mind. The thoughts would pop at weird moments mostly at night. Sometimes, I’d feel the presence while washing my hands with my back to the shower. It is the memory of these thoughts that make me scared to go off my antidepressants.
Please watch this lady’s video if you are considering hospitalization for a mental health issues.
I collected five quotes about teamwork and will share them here.
“Teamwork is really a form of trust. It’s what happens when you surrender the mistaken idea that you can go it alone and realize that you won’t achieve your individual goals without the support of your colleagues.” Pat Summit
Pat Summit was an American women’s basketball coach. Here is an article about her. This quote reminds me of when I was a photo supervisor and a shift supervisor helped a customer. So, my store won a photo sells contest and I received a bonus. I felt bad because I knew that I didn’t win the contest. My team won it but I got the bonus. I spent some of it to bring food to work. I can’t remember what I brought or the size of the bonus. I just know that we only won because of our team not me. I just helped to keep the photo machines working.
“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.” Halford E. Luccock
Luccock is an American Methodist minister and professor at Yale Divinity School. This reminded me of my music director at church when he plays the organ. I found a guy on YouTube who is called “India’s one man band.”
“Alone we can do little. Together we can do so much.” Helen Keller
“Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler is an American comedian that was on Saturday Night Live. This is similar to the concept of a mastermind group. Napoleon Hill used the phrase “mastermind alliance” and listed it as the second key to success. This remind me of a Bible study that met after church services at a previous church.
“How did we cure polio, small box and send a man to the moon? How did we decide the human genome in just 13 years? Collaboration. Focus on a specific goal, and teamwork.” Margaret Cuomo
Cuomo is an author who writes about health issues. When I was in university, I heard about the human genome project. I was surprised when I saw the news that it was fully sequenced. It felt like such a short time for such a huge achievement.
I’d like to end this post with a summary of my pastor’s sermon for the children. I can’t even remember the adult sermon. (Sorry, pastor.)
Pastor Jordan giving the children’s sermon
He began the lesson with three Legos to describe the triune God which includes the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He joked that Christians are terrible at math. Then, he explained that each one of us has a relationship with God. He gave each child a Lego and invited them to add their piece to the three blocks representing God. He mentioned someone that he knows who ha Schizophrenia and showed an odd shaped Lego. He reminded all of us that every member regardless of our mental health issues or sexual orientation can be in a relationship with God.
