Aside(*) I am a curious wordsmith and love words with multiple and insightful meaning. Listlessness-an archaic word now replaced by the ever present nonsensical ‘whatever,’ with the Valley Girl accent. It is a buffer or shield that keeps joy out of the present, Yes
AND the word says more-it says a lack of a list.
Translated as not knowing what one wants AND not knowing what to believe AND not taking the action, AND not showing the courage to create life as you want. The solution (soul-it-on) to make a list. To take the next step list the HOW’s. “I want to finish my next book.’ HOW-writing on it daily. Editing what I have written. Read the writing aloud, AND with Aside-courage read it to an audience. (One is an audience).
A psychology professor at the University of Miami knew his students expected a terrifyingly long final exam. To play with their minds a little (what do you expect from a psychology professor?) he only put ONE question on the final exam.
He watched the reactions of the students as they all opened the exams and saw the one question. Initially they all looked relieved, but as the difficulty of the question began to sink in, those relieved faces sagged to confusion and consternation. All, that is, except for one student. He read the question, tapped his pencil into his palm a few times, then jotted something down on the test paper. He walked up to the professor, handed him the final, and walked out.
The professor blinked in surprise, looked at what the student wrote, and smiled. The professor wrote "100%" on the top of that student's test.
The question: What is courage?
The student's answer: This is.
“So long as we can laugh we are not completely under the domination of fear…to be able to laugh in time of danger is a sign of courage…deepening our feeling of self-worth and dignity.”
(*) Aside-To understand how to use the ASIDE when speaking Please see page 11 of How to Own the Stage.. Autographed copies are available-
