(#111-2) January 20 2015. The world is a tempting place—and there are hard choices to be made. I have never regretted choosing writing although it is about as stressful a way to make a living that can be imagined. I guess writing poetry is even more difficult—but supposedly poets get the women. Let me tell a secret: so do writers (every now and then).

TO BE SOMEBODY, OR TO DO SOMETHING?

THAT IS THE QUESTION

TO WRITE THE WAY I AM DRIVEN TO WRITE IS ESSENTIALLY ABOUT DOING.  I WOULD LIKE FAME AND FORTUNE, OF COURSE, BUT THE PRICE HAS A TENDENCY TO BE HIGH.

I AM CONTENT TO DO—THOUGH IT IS A STRUGGLE

The following is one of my favorite stories. It was featured today in the consistently provocative Fabius Maximus blog—extremely timely in my case, given current events.

One of best known anecdotes about the late John Boyd (Colonel, USAF) describes the decay of our officer corps. It’s often told as a upbeat story, I hope intended as gallows humor. It’s one of the most depressing stories I’ve heard about our Versailles-on-the-Potomac. This is from Robert Coram’s Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (2002).

“Tiger, one day you will come to a fork in the road. And you’re going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go that way you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and you will get good assignments.

“Or you can go that way and you can do something – something for your country and for your Air Force and for yourself. If you decide you want to do something, you may not get promoted and you may not get the good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won’t have to compromise yourself. You will be true to your friends and to yourself. And your work might make a difference.

“To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That’s when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do. Which way will you go?”

VOR words c. 50.

---