some kudos for stumblers!

~ Katherine Saxby

New York Times columnist David Brooks is everywhere right now. He’s appeared on the Sunday Morning News shows, Charlie Rose, and (of course) the PBS News Hour. He will even be in Oakland on Saturday as part of Notes and Words where he will read from his new book, The Road to Character. He recently adapted an essay from that book and published it in the Times as an Op-Ed piece entitled “The Moral Bucket List”.

I was interested in the article because I had  seen some of the TV interviews, but my interest heightened when I read his comments about “stumblers”. (Does he read my blog?) Brooks notes that “[t]he stumbler scuffs through life, a little off balance. But the stumbler faces her imperfect nature with unvarnished honesty”. (Is Brooks spying on me? Have we met? How does he know that this stumbler is a she?)

Naturally, I identified with the feeling of being “off-balance”, and while I can’t promise “unvarnished honesty”, I appreciate the reminder to confront my weaknesses with honesty and kindness. Yet the most gratifying sentence of the article (for me) appeared in the last paragraph where Brooks wrote, “[t]he stumbler doesn’t build her life by being better than others, but by being better than she used to be.” In these words, I recognized an idea that I try to encourage in myself and my students. I remind all of us that we probably can’t be perfect, but we can be better than we were yesterday, even if only a little bit. So, thanks to David Brooks for the reminder that stumbling can still be progress.

Published by Katherine Saxby

A veteran English and French teacher, an optimistic but negligent gardener, and an adventurous vegetarian cook, Katherine is always looking for ways to improve her lesson plans, her accent, her pie crust, and everything else (including her waistline). Even though her younger, thinner self thought that she would have most of the answers by the time she reached her fifties, Katherine still responds to queries and challenging situations with “Let's think about that” or “I don't know; let's find out”. She employs these phrases in her classroom and in the 113 year old house she shares with two cats and the patient, creative architect who is her husband.

2 thoughts on “some kudos for stumblers!”

  1. That’s a good, tangible marker to go by: “we can be better than we were yesterday…” I just wish that would also apply to my blogging skills, but since I haven’t done any blogging for awhile, it’s more “use them or lose them!” Thanks for your insightful piece.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. I resonate with the idea of being of balance and trying to “steady” myself, which I believe is a process we are constantly in. Often times though, this “stumbling” is seen as a deficient rather than a strength; it takes a lot too balance, and probably, even more to stumble and keep from falling. Brooks’ comment of one’s own progression rather then comparing one’s self to others is something that needs to be promoted to everyone, young and old, because we are all in different stages of balancing and stumbling.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment