Involve Me. And I Will Understand.

I first came across the proverb, - Tell me something. And I will forget. Show me something. And I can remember. Involve me. And I will understand - thanks to a BMW ad.

Though I am not one to push brands, the BMW ad was genius. Much like the sun leaves an after effect once you close your eyes, a flash was used to burn an image of the logo into viewers heads. The video urges you to close your eyes and imagine your dream. When you do "BMW" fades in as an after image.

Whether or not BMW should be equated to your ultimate goal in life is another story but the technique itself is very cool.

The original is:

不闻不若闻之，闻之不若见之，见之不若知之，知之不若行之；学至于行之而止矣。

(pinyin: Bù wén bù ruò wén zhī, wén zhī bù ruò jiàn zhī, jiàn zhī bù ruò zhīzhī, zhīzhī bù ruò xíng zhī; xué zhìyú xíng zhī ér zhǐ yǐ.)

• Literally: I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.
• Moral: You can only understand something by trying it yourself.
• Revised: Tell me and I [will] forget. Show me and I [will] remember. Involve me and I [will] understand.
• Also: You can't understand until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes.
• Originally by Xun Zi.

Of course there is a generally accepted interpretation. The revised proverb has a general application that is less didactic and has been applied to teaching.

I like the revised version because it is inclusive and encourages interaction as opposed to an individual struggle for perfection.

One Day and Several Carpe Diems Later

I complained when I was in search of work so I will bite my tongue and say that now I am off for the holidays. The significant other is miles away enjoying the tastes and sights of Italy. In other words I have plenty of free time. Staycation or not, I decided to make the most of it. The following is a rundown of my first tease of freedom.

11:00 Wake up for the first time in months after 6am.

Time filled with slowly milling about before getting out the door.

2:00 Running out the door. About to buy a replacement metropass off a craigslist post. (Lost two in the past two weeks, both out of my pocket.)

3:00 Metropass secured. Back in the tube with a mission in mind.

3:30 Distracted. Buying red leather gloves.

3:55 Mission back on - gifting strangers. Head over to dollar store and scour the isles for goods I would actually want for myself.

4:30 One slinky, two dreamcatchers, scrapbook gems, snowflake candles and some sweets later I began packing the mini gift bags. Insert cards as well.

The cards catered to the gifts and read something like this:

Dear Stranger,

Here is a gift and a poem I really like:

"We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams,Wandering by lone sea-breakers,And sitting by desolate streams;— World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems." -Arthur O'Shaughnessy

Love,

Your Fellow Human

4:45 Friend and I proceed to hand out gifts. First encounter unsuccessful; we are lectured on aiding and abetting Christmas - whatever that means.

4:47 People are being gifted. Smiles all around.

5:15 The guy on the street who paints for a living is given a mini canvas with a mini easel. He's a little surprised. Mostly amused. Task accomplished.

6:00 It is freezing. Can't feel fingers. One more gift to go. Dreamcatcher goes to lonely girl.

Food intermission with other friend. Spoil self with four cheese risotto at Vivoli.

10:00 Proceed to yet another friend's festive birthday party. Fire crackling, mulled wine and dated sweaters. Indulge in wistful chat of travel.

12:30 Depart after making plans to host a "dress up day" - an excuse to put those one time purchases to good use. Nod to the blue silk pants.

12:45 Arrive on King. Enter club. Meet the girls and dance the night away.

3:45 Arrive back home. Surprisingly not tired. Very satisfied.

Tomorrow will hopefully include more blogging, reading and doing what ever strikes me as worth doing. I plan to squeeze as much life out of these two weeks as I can.