Inside Out

by Dr. Seuss

I recently read this at my sister’s wedding and I love the sentiment contained within it.

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You’re on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the couple who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets.
Look ‘em over with care.
About some you will say, “We don’t choose to go there.”

With your heads full of brains
and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down,
any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.

It’s opener there
in the wide open air,
Out there things can happen and frequently do
to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

You’ll join the high fliers who soar to great heights!

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have all the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang, and you’ll soon take the lead.

OH! THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!

Wherever you fly you’ll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because sometimes, you won’t.

You’ll get mixed up of course, as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up with so many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step. Step with great care and great tact
and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed!
(98 and three quarters percent guaranteed.)

You’re off to great places! Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting. So … get on your way!

Oh, The Places You’ll Go! on Amazon.co.uk

“For London is like prison for children, especially if their parents are not rich. Of course there are the shops and theatres, and entertainments and things, but if your people are rather poor you don’t get taken to the theatres, and you can’t buy things out of the shops; and London has none of those nice things that children may play with without hurting the things or themselves—such as trees and sand and woods and waters. And nearly everything in London is the wrong sort of shape—all straight lines and flat streets, instead of being all sorts of odd shapes, like things.”

Edith Nesbit, Five Children and It

“You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”

Yogi Berra

H: Why are you digging a hole?
C: I’m looking for buried treasure.
H: What have you found?
C: A few dirty rocks, a weird root, and some disgusting grubs.
H: On your first try??
C: Yes. There’s treasure everywhere!

From There’s Treasure Everywhere (Calvin and Hobbes) via Ivan Holroyd.

“You can’t get to wonderful without passing through alright”

Bill Withers

“”It is too constricting to say that you must always think outside the box; whether you are thinking inside or outside the box, you are still letting the box dictate your thoughts, are you not? What you are not acknowledging is the honest fact that ‘the box’ itself is figmentary, illusory. And as long as one continues to act in reaction to this perceived set of dictates, one cannot be truly original in thought.”

Erica Amelia Smith,
An Address as to the Nature of the “Proper” Uses of Technology

“The best climber is the one having the most fun.”

Alex Lowe, The American Alpine Journal

” A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. ”

Robert Anson Heinlein in Time Enough for Love (1973)

At lunch today the conversation turned to “ice-breaker” games used on course and I talked about my “Share the stupidest thing you have ever done” game. I like this game as it always seems to break down barriers fast.

Jeremy Renwick of Kubernetes then made the very good point that this game functions because “friendship is the exchange of  vulnerabilities“.

This had me thinking all the way home across the Wiltshire Downs. I have always been aware that friendships developed during climbing trips (or sailing, or kayaking) have a tendency to go from strangers to lifelong friends in very short periods. I knew that trust was an important part of this friendship and this statement sums it up perfectly for me.

When you hand the rope holding you to someone during climbing, you are about as vulnerable as you can be. Your life is literally in their hands. If those vulnerabilities aren’t exploited then you have formed a bond of trust that is as powerful as it is possible to be and a friendship normally follows.

I can see this phrase appearing in some of my courses from now on. I shall, of course, attribute it to Jeremy!