One of the first chapter books I ever remember reading out loud to my daughter was Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Dicamillo. I don’t know who loved it more—her or me. But I’ll tell you this: it became the first of many, many books cycled through our house as part of our own mother/daughter book club. The novel follows the story of young Opal Buloni and her father, “the preacher,” as they adjust to life in Naomi, FL. Opal was abandoned by her mother at age three, and now at age ten, Opal still grapples with feelings of abandonment and loneliness. Young Opal makes new friends, rekindles the strained relationship with her dad, and comes to understand that life—its people and their choices— are complex.
Whew! That’s a lot, and it’s all because of Winn-Dixie.
Jonathan Fields’ (Good Life Podcast ) interviewed Kate and spent a lot of time talking about life, work, and the writing process (She’s won two Newberry medals). When Kate writes, she doesn’t use an outline. She writes and re-writes and lets the story lead her where it wants her to go. Curious to learn more, I checked out her website and discovered this little nugget in response to a comment a writing teacher made about her first college essay:
“The person who wrote this actually took the time to see the person she was describing. That’s what writing is all about. Seeing. It’s the sacred duty of the writer to pay attention, to see the world.”
In response, Kate said, “Not until years later when I finally made a commitment to writing, when I was fighting despair, wondering if I had the talent to do what I wanted to do, did those words come back to me. And what I thought was this: I cannot control whether or not I am talented, but I can pay attention. I can make an effort to see. Because of Winn-Dixie is the result of that effort. “
What Successful People Do
Anybody who tells you they have a formula for success is either delusional or lying. There is no formula because there are a million ways to get from where you are to where you want to be.
Last year, I devoured two books on rituals performed by the world’s most successful women, hoping that I’d see some sort of trend, something I could steal and make work for me.
But there was no trend. Because there’s nothing magic about success. You can live in a hovel, chain-smoke three packs a day, never sleep, and scarf down amphetamines and still be successful. Ironically, you can also do these things and end up in a ditch somewhere. These rituals weren’t the means to success, but crutches that influenced the way these women interacted with the world around them.
I’ve found I tend to learn the most from people who see the world differently than I do—artists, writers, scientists, inventors, preachers, friends—and even enemies.
“What I discovered is that each time you look at the world and the people in it closely, imaginatively, the effort changes you. The world, under the microscope of your attention, opens up like a beautiful, strange flower and gives itself back to you in ways you could never imagine. What stories are hiding behind the faces of the people who you walk past everyday? What love? What hopes? What despair?”
Whether you are a scientist or an artist the principle is the same:
What can you learn from what you see? Do you see a story taking shape?
Even Albert Einstein, arguably the most famous scientist in modern history, admitted that he didn’t have any special talents; he was just PASSIONATELY CURIOUS.
According to Opal’s friend Gloria, the world has an “aching heart.”
That ache is the place where our unique voice and our singular passion intersect.
And I think sometimes we get so focused on the fact that we want to be the ones who change how people see the world that we totally miss the fact that the real prize is allowing yourself to be changed by what you see in the world.
What are you learning right now?