Mastermind

.I just finished an interesting book that uses a fictional character, albeit a world famous one, in getting the subject across - the technique of scientific thinking. Sherlock Holmes, the legendary fictional detective is used as a guide to develop a ‘mastermind’, in a non-fictional work loaded with interesting insight from a Harvard trained psychologist. Her prose is interesting at times but clinical and dense most of the time, possibly because her work started as a PhD thesis and evolved into a book. The author cites several writers whose work I admire like Daniel Pink, Steven Pinker and Daniel Kahneman- the Nobel Prize winning economist. Her work follows the trendy oeuvre of writers like Malcolm Gladwell, Nassim Taleb and the writers of ‘Freakonomics’, intelligent books that dispel common truths and deliver counter-intuitive conclusions, opening a new world with the vision of new eyes, after revealing the ‘real truth’ behind the everyday façade. These works attempt to explain or popularize new theories in economics, cognitive research, psychology, statistics and social science in a hip and modern style with a conscious attempt to avoid academic taint; oftentimes upending the prevailing wisdom

http://www.mariakonnikova.com/

Sherlock Holmes in my mind, typified the rigor of disciplined thinking, of pure logic, like Mr. Spock the Vulcan in Star Trek, transplanted in Victorian England to solve mysterious crimes. But the author goes farther than that, focusing on the idea of attention and stillness, more Eastern in theory than Western, but effective nevertheless. One of her statement is ‘the most powerful mind is a silent mind,’ a sentence that would not be misplaced in a Buddhist sutra or a Zen manuscript, which makes her writing all the more appealing, a mix of the standard Aristotelian logic and the mindfulness teachings of Buddhism. She points out that mindfulness and focus is the key, at the same time encouraging the mind to wander; to increase its stock of knowledge, a contradiction that would exist in any ‘koan’ or Buddhist aphorisms. Hence, Sherlock Holmes is revealed to be a modern version of a ‘mastermind’ that combines the scientific discipline of clear logical thinking and the mindfulness achieved through meditation and focus; recognizable to Eastern mystics or later day practitioners like Eckhart Tolle and Werner Erhard.

Perhaps it is her Russian background, where the east and west comingle, the influence of Europe and the renaissance coupled with the mysticism of Central Asia, where the blood of the Khans and the Moguls mixed with the Caucasian hue of Christian orthodoxy (like a journey to Harvard via Moscow). The concept of a ‘mastermind’ is an interesting idea that can be used for every day problem solving, at work or at any task, in correcting one’s thinking or removing cognitive bias; by improving meditation and mindfulness, thereby increasing productivity and reducing stress – ingredients of a readymade bestseller in the best tradition of DIY. What is the lesson for aspiring writers? I guess it is to create focus when writing, to use creativity and the imagination when creating stories and having the discipline to work (or to write regularly). The sections of her book offer a road toward developing a ‘mastermind’:

1.    Understand Yourself
2.    From Observation to Imagination
3.    Art of Deduction
4.    Science and Art of Self-Knowledge

As one can see in the outline, one does not normally associate these topics to solving crimes or scientific or logical thinking but to self-help works of improving one’s cognition as in psychological therapy. Nevertheless, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable, original and enriching book.

During the weekend, as I rushed to finish reading the book, we watched a marathon 10 hours of Downton Abbey’s Season 3, a wonderful glimpse of English lords and their estates during and after the first world war, just about the time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his fictional detective at their peak. Downton Abbey is arguably one of the greatest series ever created, the portrayal of the English upper class is magnificent; not only the story of a certain family but the epitome of refinement and panache of a race of man, when the British Empire ruled the world with their application of clear logical thinking and their appreciation of Shakespeare with his keen understanding of politics and the ruling class (i.e. a glimpse inside their brain attic). To complete the circle, I also watched the classic Laurence Olivier’s film ‘Richard III’ and the Broadway play ‘Hamlet’ directed by John Gielgud and starring Richard Burton, possibly the best Hamlet ever. To balance the whole picture, I am listening to Salman Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’ about India during the time of independence from England, an enjoyable book that should rank as a modern classic – a template for aspiring writers on the subject of national identity.

Mystical Beatle

Martin Scorsese's documentary on George Harrison opened a door, showing an aspect of Harrison not known by the general public, at least by myself. Although one is aware of his involvement with Hare Krishna and Ravi Shankar, the documentary presents a more detailed picture of his influence in spreading Indian culture. The portrayal that comes out is that Harrison played a larger role in the Beatles than normally thought. It’s intriguing to think that he nudged the Beatles towards a more spiritual side, whereas John Lennon leaned towards art and Paul McCarthy focused on music, Harrison was the soul or spiritual heart of the Beatles. There is an interesting moment in the film where the Beatles where considered more famous than God or Jesus Christ, where young people looked up to them for guidance, and their music started to reflect a more mystical or transcendental side, perhaps nudging the youth towards enlightenment by opening the door to Indian music, philosophy and spiritual growth. I can think of no other group who used their influence, although haphazardly, towards the greater good; at least no other well-known English bands like The Rolling Stones or The Who.

http://www.georgeharrison.com

In their late age, the Beatles turned out as well-adjusted human beings, who could have spiraled into a more decadent and hedonistic lifestyle but managed to have normal families and children, notwithstanding the tragic murder of Lennon or attack on Harrison, though not a fault of their own. The Beatles were regular boys, raised in good families who tried, with their music, to make a better world during a turbulent time. Harrison was well-rounded; delving in movies (Monty Python), car racing, staging benefit concerts, promoting Indian music and spiritual transcendence, spreading good cheer with his music, collaborating with other musicians like Ray Orbison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Eric Clapton, something only done with a mature ego. His life is a surprising contrast to Cole Porter, comparing their lives after watching ‘De-Lovely’, a wonderful movie musical staring Kevin Kline. Porter was a musical genius, perhaps similar to Paul McCarthy in his facility with lyrics and tunes, but both seemed light weight when compared to Harrison who searched for a deeper truth. His spiritual growth encouraged him to share his journey to the wider public and to persuade the path is open to all.

In the weekend, I read the graphic novels ‘Cleveland’ by Harvey Pekar and ‘I See the Promised Land’ about the life of Martin Luther King. MLK and Harrison were both revolutionaries as both sought change, to try and make the world a better place. I had watched documentaries and movies about MLK, heard his speeches but the graphic novel gave more detailed insight than any previous work on MLK I encountered. The ‘comics’ provided the background of MLK’s struggle, the politics of the civil rights movement, the application of Gandhi’s non-violence tactics to fight segregation, the clear usage of techniques as against oratory which was my first impression of MLK, as a preacher not the wily strategist of a Mahatma. But the application of Gandhi’s principles of ‘satyagraha’ was key (plus the clever use of media), like a strategy applied by a guerilla leader, contrary to the violent methods employed by the Black Panthers and Malcolm X and culminated in riots in New York and California. The link in both Harrison and MLK was the influence of India; the political philosophy of Gandhi and the spiritual transcendentalism of Maharishi Yogi, applying the lessons from an ancient continent. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau would be proud.

Again I procrastinated during the weekend, rushing to read books, magazines and watching movies, despite the high quality of the shows, neglecting again to work on my book. I had determined my problem: lack of will and voice, lost in an identity crisis until I realized what’s to be done, resolving to save money by not attending the writing course and, instead, plunge right ahead in the work. But I ‘speed read’ the book ‘How to Build an Android,’ a silly but interesting non-fiction book, and will read another on writing and on Sherlock Holmes. I am like St. Francis, who knew about his path to saint hood but wanted a few more decadent moments before accepting his spiritual life. Lord, please allow me just a few more weeks to read silly magazines, books and movies before embarking into a writing life. But the goal is no longer being a ‘dilettante’ following the Western ideal but having criteria to assess best use of time. Future efforts must answer the following questions: will it help write a book? Will it validate identity? Will it create an authentic life true to the goal?

Writer’s Identity

There is a clear link between the writer’s identity and his creative fiction. The authors, who spoke in the literary upcountry series, write proudly of their uniqueness; confirm their roots as Hispanic writers, or African American or Southern writers who live in the shadow of the Appalachian Mountains; their unique voice punctuating their works and, thereby, achieving a certain individuality and power, enriching their prose. I missed this aspect, mixing all those creative voices in a swirl, neglecting to pay notice to the ‘identity’ of the writer. For instance, Graham Greene is the consummate Englishman; this identity gives his work a unique voice, the perspective of the erudite European. I am reading Salman Rushdie who comes out as an Englishman with his facility in the English language but one hears the voice of the sophisticated Indian from the Asian subcontinent. Similarly, echoes of the Texas outback in Cormac McCarthy or upper class New York WASP in J.D. Salinger or the Brooklyn Jew in Philip Roth. I did not realize how empowering one’s identity brings to the creative writer.

For my part, in a culture mixed by Spanish Catholic colonialism and American progressive re-engineering, one is often confused; thinking he is influenced by both European old worldliness and Yankee new world naiveté and ‘can do spirit’, neglecting the buried Malay or Chinese heritage, in a country adrift in the crossroads of oceanic travel. Perhaps Indian writers did not have this problem, strengthened by an ancient civilization albeit with a strong layer of English colonial imperialism. The question of identity is not as prevalent in India as in the Philippines, though both occupied by foreign powers but the islands plagued more by differing foreign winds; cut-off from the great Asian mainland, thereby foregoing the great influence of Buddhism, Chinese culture (but with sprinklings of Chinatown), Malay and Islamic thought (with pockets in the Muslim South) and instead transplanting the Western Christian ideal (more Catholic than Protestant) in these dispersed Pacific islands. In some ways, the country is more culturally aligned to Latin America (albeit without the Spanish language) than any country in Asia.

Therefore, the problem of writing is a problem of identity; one does not have a voice that could enrich his prose. This is the lesson one learns when reading Junot Diaz, whose prose echoes his Latin American roots or Ha Jin with his Chinese background. This is the fundamental problem, not a question of writing craft but in developing one’s voice; one cannot write without a foundation of identity. But there are writers who can transcend their identity like Kazuo Ishiguro, who foregoes his Japanese identity to write a classic of English life in his book ‘Remains of the Day,’ but he is an exception. If one does not know his identity, the resulting prose is weak and inauthentic. Jose Rizal wrote long ago that one will become like the wind, forever floating about if one does not have the anchor of his identity. Perhaps this is the root of the problem, one’s voracious curiosity, forever borrowing books or watching movies in an attempt to assimilate into a Western consciousness; perhaps ashamed to acknowledge one’s roots as one tries to assimilate in the great melting pot. In a sense, my generation grew up in American culture with the steady diet of Hollywood movies and television.

Hence, this is the final puzzle, where one finally admits his identity, focuses on developing his voice (also an inevitable consequence of public speaking in Toastmaster). It is no longer the learning of the writing craft though still important but the cultivation of one’s story. And what is the story of my generation? Living abroad, travelling for work around the world, living in different cultures, ashamed of our country’s hardship and troubles, perhaps for some, living illegally in foreign lands. Perhaps it is also a modern story, the expatriate in a global society with the English language as the passport for assimilation in distant countries, a representative of a colonized race, forcibly fed salvation via the lord Jesus Christ, or democracy via Governor Generals, the Guardia Civil and the Army of Occupation. Perhaps it’s also a story of heroism as one tries to find his identity against the colonial rule of memory, where the descendants of a conquered race rise up today and trying to forget the humiliation of the past.

Performance Poet

Last night was the last upcountry literary event scheduled in the library for 2013. The featured artist was the poetess Glenis Redmond, an amazing writer who was one of those who started the poetry slam contest in the upcountry in the early 90s. From her talk, I felt that she has strong intuition in the way she pursues her themes, fearlessly going to her roots and exploring her heritage, particularly the brutal history of slavery in the South. She also has graduate degrees which gave her a certain polish and academic distinction but she never loses her earthiness and common touch, her sassiness and verve when displaying her Southern roots. But I am struck by the way she listens to herself when she crafts her story, listening to her dreams or the urgings of her subconscious to complete a certain theme, never failing to grasp intuitively the meaning of her work. But the best part of her handiwork is her performance, when she surrenders herself to the ecstasy of her poetry, delivering a presentation that complements who she is with her prose.

http://www.glenisredmond.com/

After her talk and reading of poems, a young lady in the audience, an aspiring poet herself, asked for some tips. Redmond advised that she should do a lot of reading, writing and speaking, especially if she aspired to be a slam poet, delivering performances of her poetry to get herself known, describing her early experiences reciting poems in girl scout meeting and other non-artist events, (perhaps traumatizing young girls with her raw work on civil rights like prose on the Birmingham violence). At least that advice gave me some comfort since I am almost doing the same thing, though I also learned the importance of intuition and to listen to one’s inner voice especially on one’s identity. For example, Redmond mentioned that her last name is not her ‘true’ name; since it belonged to the slave owner; or speaking on the language of her people, for example, when asked when they worked the cotton fields, the illiterate laborer answered from ‘can’t see to can’t see’ meaning before sunrise and after sunset, when darkness covered the land.

One can learn more about the Carolinas and the South by listening to these local writers, while also gaining writing tips. For example, from Vera Gomez one learns about celebrating one’s roots, from Dot Jackson one learns about perseverance, from George Singleton one learns about the ease of writing naturally, and from Glenis Redmond one learns about intuition, courage and identity. It was a good month where one starts the year right, with one’s literary aspirations bolstered by the examples of these artists, a good turn after attending the Modern Poetry course in Coursera last year.  What next? I am still deciding whether to attend the Creative Writing 101 course (USD $ 300.00) or should I just proceed and write following the example of Singleton, Jackson and Redmond. But I believe both Singleton and Redmond had creative writing instruction, perhaps achieving MFAs, while I am cobbling together a sort of MFA experience by attending online courses and joining local literary events in the library. But the development of the whole person is important (reading, writing and speaking) following Joseph Campbell, Werner Erhard and Stephen Covey with perhaps Toastmaster contributing to this goal.

Day Tripper

I still have not enrolled in the writer’s classes that are scheduled in February. I have been busy catching up on my reading and watching movies borrowed from the library. I am also in transition, mainly at the office where my team completed a project in December, resolved several major issues on the warehouse system I was working on the past 3 years and continuing on another major project regarding inventory levels. The last project on inventory has been taking a lot of my time, involving technical skills which I need to brush up especially on the Oracle database, batch jobs and other highly technical stuff; work that I am engaged in as an analyst. But since last year I am moving towards a project management role and 2013 will be no different when I assume another position managing small program changes – sort of like a mini-project manager. This is a management role as compared to an analyst role, something that I had been doing four years ago in Singapore although I had both management and analyst roles combined.

As part of my training, I have been reading many emails and attending meetings to get acquainted with the actors in the new job. Overall it’s not difficult but requires a lot of personal interactions which I like. In fact the task is heavy on administrative and management with only brief requirements on specific functional expertise and analysis. This brings back memories of the support function I used to do with the boss man in Singapore but without the aggravation. The assignment requires organizing meetings and following up deliverables so this means I must be more organized and efficient to be able to do my vocation well. In fact, the job will be a combination of analyst role and management with me juggling 2 separate chores. But I look forward to the challenge because it removes boredom and requires a move away from the internal thinking that marks the work of analysis. This is a true role of a manager although at a lesser scale. It is also a subtly powerful one if done correctly.

Other challenges in 2013 are my Toastmaster experience where I am nominated for Area Governor, another role that requires interpersonal relations and communication. I am working on my DTM award which is the highest level that one can achieve. I have been fairly active in Toastmaster, doing speeches and helping out in the registration last Saturday in the district leadership training seminar, driving to the conference after a day of sleet and ice in the road. The news reported 500 automobile mishaps last Friday which I avoided by working from home, evading any accidents the next day when I drove to the conference late in the morning. I stayed until noon, whereupon I went to the gym and swam for 30 minutes, did some shopping in the Asian store, coming home by 3:00 pm to watch ‘Warm Springs’ - an inspiring movie about FDR. I realized during the weekend one’s loneliness without the kids, studying in college. In these poignant moments, I think of my parent who I hope can travel this year to see me and my brother’s families.

One achieves a certain grace through experience and achievement, plus detachment from the events at work; but still my mind cannot avoid being empty which is the best state to write. Instead delves into churning thought, keeping itself busy. Last Thursday, I attended a short seminar called ‘Transform Your Life’, inspiring me to write a speech for Toastmaster. Still, despite my reading of Werner Erhard, Joseph Campbell and Eckhart Tolle, I am not successful in being a serious writer, preferring procrastination to actual work. FDR was an inspiration, rising above polio to be president, as I watched the movie last weekend, thinking that his physical ailment forced a change, similar to a writer who turned to writing after losing her job, her circumstances pushed her to blogging and eventually becoming a published author. Perhaps an external event is needed to push me that I realized I had been lucky, escaping numerous auto mishaps in the Philippines and enjoying a relatively easy life, travelling, reading and indulging in my passions. But age and the loneliness of life can move one forward; I am like the character in the graphic novel ‘Day tripper’ who needs to understand that death maybe in the corner for one to truly live.
 

Literary Upcountry

Last Tuesday I attended a talk by local author George Singleton, a prolific writer with several short stories and novels under his belt. He is an intriguing contrast to the previous speaker, Dot Jackson who completed a well-regarded book though not as prodigious as Singleton. Singleton is one of those natural writers, seemingly capable of producing works like water spilling out from a faucet, speaking at a rapid pace especially when reading his books to a rapt audience. He made an interesting remark when he spoke about writing; how his work improved when he shifted from the third-person to the first-person point of view, an advice given by his creative writing teacher in high school. It was like a revelation according to him, freeing him from whatever constricted his voice, allowing him to burst forth into an inventively hilarious form of narrative, sort of like a folksy common sense humor that Mark Twain is famous for but with a more Southern bent.

Singleton speaks the way he writes, like an exuberant fountain that naturally discharges words into elegant sentences then forming into humorous tales. I borrowed a book of short stories displayed in a table, reading the first few sentences, attracted by the elegant and deceptively Southern style of narrative. His work is entertaining but lacks the sarcasm and biting commentary of Mark Twain, a majestic voice when compared to Singleton. But Singleton has the same wit, describing Southern characters and situations like Flannery O’Connor, but without the morbidity and Gothic humor. This seems to be his charm, a combination of Mark Twain and Flannery O’Connor, delivered in a modern tone like a lesser Salinger. But Singleton can really write; the way his words flow and how the story unfolds; a natural story teller but without substantive heft. One is entertained but one wonders if his time is better spent reading Cormac McCarthy, where one is left with his soul opened to a new reality.

Admittedly, I have not read a lot of Singleton’s works, just judging (which I should not do) from his talk, the two stories he read plus the few paragraphs I browsed from the borrowed book. Of course, one feels envy with the ease with which he seems to have when writing. In fact, one seems to note that he expresses his personality in his books; he is the narrator in the way he speaks in real life, as opposed to Dot Jackson who said that someone took over her when she was scribbling her book ‘Refuge’. But both writers are similar in the way a writer’s personality expresses itself; there is a completeness that one notices, a fullness of spirit. One wonders if the person evolved because of the writing or did the writing evolve because of the person? In other words - does one develop the person first: read many books, have many life experiences, travel and explore the world? Writing sensations like Emily Bronte or Jane Austen seem to belie this assumption and contrary to the teachings of Werner Erhard.

Tonight I will attend another library event which I hope will answer that question, the session entitled ‘Transform your Life: Become Who You Are and Live Your Whole Life.’ According to Erhard, one should just BE, becoming in one instant the writer that one can be, similar to Eckhart Tolle’s edict to live in the moment, and focus on the task at hand, instead of having the mind float away to achieve some future goal, attending numerous seminars to become SOMEONE. One does not BECOME by attending all these seminars because one already IS. At work, one does not have existential angst, one just jumps into the fray, accepting any challenges that come along, to make a living, to stay on top of the heap and learn on the job. Of course, Hemingway and Dot Jackson became writers after being reporters and learning the craft while George Singleton just BECAME the writer he wanted to be. But at least he had a creative writing instructor in high school.

Erhard teaches that one attends seminars or talks not because one should expect a transformation but one attends because of WHO one is. It’s the consequence of one’s context not in the striving for something. A contradiction since Erhard made a lot of money attracting people to attend his seminars only to tell them that they are already are who they want to be. The goal is to change one’s perceptions, to reverse the expectations from reading, travelling, watching and attending to achieve a certain state. Instead one acknowledges that one enjoys the multitudes gained from reading, watching and so on because of who he is: someone who enjoys input and ‘drinking from a fire hose’. Therefore one falls back on Tolle who advises to live for the moment and to focus on the task at hand. Learning craft is important because it’s a necessity like learning to drive and nothing else. One is not thinking and one need to ‘drink less from the fire hose’ if one wants to accomplish something. Perhaps it’s more a challenge to be mature and responsible.

How You Lose

I finished listening to Junot Diaz’s latest novel ‘This is How You Lose Her’ last weekend. While listening to the book, I browsed the latest swimsuit edition of Sport Illustrated magazine. A fitting combination considering all the sex and twisted relationships explored in Diaz’s book. This is a good example of making use of one’s vices or weakness in the creation of a creative work. It was like Diaz let it all hang out, allowing himself to acknowledge his peccadillos while struggling to be an artist. Hence, his excesses did not hinder his creative output, instead wallowing in the excess of his sexual energy to spill out into his novel. I may be mistaken into thinking that the hero in his book is Diaz himself, a mistake that Orhan Pamuk pointed out in his essay on writing, but one is sure that the raw episodes of sexuality is one which the author is intimately familiar. His slam bang approach with all the swear words and sensual stories is raw, earthy and authentic;  capturing the voice of the South American immigrant experience, portraying the Latin migrant story with authentic Spanish words one is familiar, with voices from Columbia, Puerto Rican and Dominican Republic where Diaz hails from.

I am also reading Graham Greene’s book about Omar Torrijos and Panama in ‘Meeting the General’ which is a more elegant accounting of the South American experience, especially in the relationship to the United States during the canal treaty negotiations. The contrast is interesting: the elegant memories of the esteemed English writer and the brash upstart Latin immigrant, both dealing with the American experience, one experiencing imperialism and the interventions in Latin America while one living in New York (New Jersey, Brooklyn or the Bronx?) and Boston while trying to maintain his identity in the melting pot of the United States. Earlier I read Ha Jin and the Chinese immigrant experience, particular the inflow of Chinese citizens after the Tienanmen Square massacre. These stories are all about travel, displacement, political intrigue with America somehow involved in the mix: as a refuge for political refugees or those seeking a new life or as the instigator of imperial will on the backyard of their Southern Hemisphere.

Both Ha Jin and Junot Diaz stories reflect life of the writer as a young man, as they strive to achieve their artistic goal while living as an immigrant in the new world. An interesting contrasts again: Latin American machismo and the Chinese literati scholar, compared to the old writer Greene, a former spy who travelled the globe, a weary nomad and raconteur expanding his stories with elegant erudition.  Another mature raconteur is Dot Jackson who wrote only one book that sealed her reputation, hashing out a work with difficulty, keeping her book hidden for many years under her bed, or kept by a friend in a refrigerator, finally convincing an editor to print her book. Jackson is one of those legendary Southern writers, writing about life in the Appalachian hills, striving to maintain a living and pouring all in one book unlike the prodigy of Ha Jin and Junot Diaz who seem to churn out books without the care of subtle prose or without anguish and self-doubt that plague writers like Jackson who struggled for years before her book was published and recognized. 

I wonder myself about my path: thinking of attending another expensive writing course  while joining literary events, filling time reading and watching movies, like last weekend. I realize that BEING a writer requires drastic change in priorities and focus. But change is coming nonetheless; moving to a new role at work that requires more interaction and attention, plus another larger role in Toastmaster as area governor (to be confirmed soon) and in the analyst network in the office; new challenges coming as if by fate. The coming changes are inevitable, something that one can do with a simple request unlike BEING a writer which require conscious attention against self-doubt. I read some excerpts of a new book about Sherlock Holmes who has contradictory ability to focus and to allow his mind to wander to explore new knowledge. So I realized my strengths: my ability to accept input and learn that it’s my nature to accept input like drinking from a water hose, not as a way to be ‘someone’ as an accumulator of knowledge and experience. Hence, it is more a tempering of one’s nature, changing perception that one is ‘flighty’ but instead, in need for discipline to focus, just like Sherlock Holmes.