Mentoring for a moment

In late August, lovely Barbara Torris responded to my question -- "Who are your heros?".

Imagine her surprise when, last week, one of her heros, Russell Kirsch, the man who invented the square pixel in cameras, and taught computers how to "see", called to thank Barbara for her blog.

There was something quite wonderful about their interchange, but I can't quite figure out what -- will you think with me for a moment?

When Barbara wrote about Russell Kirsch, wasn't she giving a gift of her self?

Is there someone that you admire -- that is very much your hero -- to whom you can say thank you?

Whether the person responds or not, in our expression of thanks, we not only clarify what we value, our gratitude reminds us that we are not the center of everything, but a part; that we are connected. (Note: though Peggy Noonan didn't respond to my 'fan mail' two years ago, in setting forth what I admired about her, I clarified how I aspire to be.)

When Russell Kirsch responded to Barbara Torris, wasn't he receiving her gift?

Who admires you? Someone you know well, not at all, younger (probably), the children in your life? Anything you can do to receive this gift freely given?

Gift given, gift received.

Yes, yes, but it feels like there is something more....

In the Identifying my heros entry, I posed the question, "given that my childhood heros (Samantha Stevens, UCLA cheerleaders) have shaped who I've become, is it possible that my current heros (e.g. Peggy Noonan, Laura Laviada) can shape who I will yet become?"

If this is indeed true, then isn't it also true that when Russell Kirsch responded to Barbara Torris, he increased the odds that she will become what she aspires to be?

And finally, when we respond to someone who admires us -- aren't we actually saying that we see something magnificent in her that she can’t yet see, and that we are here, in this moment, to be her see-er until she can be her own?

I'm not a betting woman, but I sure do like these odds.

Whose hero are you?

Will you mentor her for a moment?

Comments

[Matt Langdon]

Who are you a hero to? That's one of the questions that got me walking down the path to creating the Hero Workshop. It's a powerful question and raise all sorts of feelings of pride, responsibility, fear...

Acknowledging your place as a hero in someone's life opens up the relationship to allow less awkward communication or sharing of ideas. I think it's a great move and commend you on suggesting it.

[Barbara Torris]

Whitney,

I am so grateful for this blog. When I wrote the blog on heroes prompted by you, I had not thought about heroes for a long time. It was so wondrous when I realized that I still "wanted to grow up to be like my heroes".

Keep well.

b