Every once in a while I like to make public a little more about me. It helps me more fully understand who I am and what I am doing, and have done, with my life and maybe gives you some understanding of some of my views. This post is about that general topic and revolves around the word “rote”. I know that is not a word I or anyone else uses much but it totally defines a significant part of my life.
Even though I am in my seventh decade of life in some ways I still seem to be a little kid who just never grew up. I have always needed constant stimulation to keep from getting bored with my circumstances. If things stay the same for too long they become rote.
Even though I worked for the same company for thirty years I didn’t do the same thing for more than five years or so and then it was time for a basic change. Once I got good at something it then bored me and I was ready for change. I couldn’t, and really still can’t, understand how a person can do the same thing year after year.
When I left the corporate world and started up a furniture/cabinet business. I had been doing woodworking projects for myself for years but rarely sold any of my creations. During the six year that this business was active I became very good at creating and fabricating furniture. While the one-man shop was somewhat successful it just became boring to me. Once I had conquered the skills to do the work it was not of much interest to me anymore. In retrospect I can look back at my life and discover that this was by no means the only occurrence.
I think I was about 12 or 13 when I read my first biography on Albert Einstein. It was a big book, about three inches thick) for such a small person that I was. I was fascinated by his life and I think I then became addicted to learning and my “question everything” approach to life. Being a farm boy with a relatively low self-esteem I never even dreamed of being like him an any regard but some of those words evidently rubbed off on me. I love his quote in the graphic to the right.
It seems that my challenge in life has always been to learn something new. Once that is accomplished it is time to move on to other things. Learning seems to be my passion in life. I’m sure that I am not alone with these thoughts….
RJ's Corner 
No, you’re not alone in your state of ongoing curiosity and thirst for the new and interesting. Between fifth grade and my sophomore year in high school, I read four books that each shifted my paradigm in different ways. First was ‘Plenty-Coups, Chief of the Crows’. His visions of the future (from his vision quest) showed me that there could be a way to prepare oneself to experience an expanded view of time and space. Second was ‘Rats, Life, and History’. This book showed me that history was shaped by far more than kings and generals and, just because something was written in a history textbook, it wasn’t necessarily so. Then I read ‘Black like Me’. That shaped my views on race and bigotry. Lastly, ‘The Diary of Anne Frank” made me examine the political/social climate that could turn people into unfeeling groups of mob-think and, more personally, question whether the courage of my convictions or personal survival would be foremost in my response to this kind of situation.
I’ve found that my life has been a quest for knowledge and skills. A search for new dragons to slay?
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