Monday Morning Check In: Pithy-ism and cliches

It’s Monday Morning, and I want to talk about pithiness. As a teacher I find it useful to boil down important concepts into tiny word pictures. As a person journeying through life, I also find it useful to hang my hat on several succinct phrases – short on words but long on concepts. I keep my eyes open for these little gems and find ways to use and reuse them in many areas of my life.

I recall one conversation with a great Texas litigator, Joe Davis, formerly of Hilgers & Watkins, P.C. I asked Mr. Davis why so many litigators flashed clichés around like hot money. As a writer, I understood that clichés were to be avoided because they lacked originality.

Mr. Davis explained that clichés were a useful litigation tool because they painted a vivid picture with few words. When the cliché was good, the cliché would paint a picture that would resonate with a jury. The cliché would build a connection, tell a story, and draw on the individual jurors’ personal experiences with the use of a few words.

Ah, I thought, maybe writing should strive to achieve the same result. I may or may not use clichés in my writing, but I do find comfort in pithy expressions with my students, my friends, and myself. Here are three I enjoy spreading around:

• Don’t Break ALL the Dishes

• Throw a Lick at a Snake (the A minus philosophy)

• Soap is Soap

Don’t Break ALL the Dishes. The dishes example came from something I once heard at a Weight Watchers meeting. The story example discussed at the meeting was about people falling off their diet plans. The dish analogy was that once someone made a dietary choice that was different than planned, the person tended to use that as an excuse to continue making bad dietary choices. In other words, having broken one dish, the person now feels justified as having permission to break all the rest of the dishes in the set.

I remind myself of this little phrase and the concept it represents whenever I make a mistake or fall short of my expectations. The temptation in those situations is to give up, give in, or give out. This phrase reminds me to pick myself up, hang in there, and give it another go.

Throw a Lick at a Snake. I first learned of this phrase with the flylady.net community. I understand this phrase to mean that I do not need to be perfect, although striving for perfection in any endeavor is always the best motivation. Sometimes, though, it is good to throw a lick at a snake. Throw enough at them and surely one or two will hit it. Any lick that hits will be good and make a difference.

I remind myself of this phrase whenever I find myself beginning to obsess about my performance in a particular area. My anchor for this phrase and its advice come from a past history during my stint as Director of the Texas State University Suzuki String Institute. I had a lovely conversation with my cello instructor, Donna Davis, in which she was trying to encourage me during a very stressful week. Here is her story:

Donna volunteered to build a Thanksgiving centerpiece for her child’s kindergarten class. She had the idea of using each letter in the word “Thanksgiving” to represent a particular concept related to the Thanksgiving theme, such as “thanks” for the letter T, “harvest” for the letter H, “appreciation” (or “apple”) for the letter A, and so forth. She got stuck over the letter K. She called the child’s teacher in a panic and asked for advice and help. The teacher must have known Donna well, because the teacher’s response was, “Donna, can a C minus be good enough this time?”

Donna and I had a good laugh over that story, because we understood that we both suffered from a similar problem – the need for perfection. Thereafter, I told that story to my Assistant Director (the best assistant director in the world, Robin Adamo!), and she had instructions to give me the signal at any time that I was heading over to the dark side of perfectionist tendencies. Robin would look me in the eye and ask me, “Can an A minus be good enough?” We would laugh, let the momentary obsession go, and move on.

Soap is soap. This little expression tells us that it does not matter what soap you use. Soap is soap. It fascinates me that there are so many possibilities of soap and shampoo available to us. When I was overseas, I realized that the hotel provided “soap” in most Guest bathrooms. That meant that I had soap for my hair and my body. Instead of waiting for the perfect solution, I would settle tor using the tools that completed the job satisfactorily.

OK, I get it now. It is funny how this works. As I wrote this post, I discovered that I had an overall theme: perfectionism can be hazardous. I notice that my favorite pithy phrases all reflect this theme.

What is your theme? What is the issue that you struggle with the most? I recommend reading as much as you can and visiting websites that may help you to find the quotes or phrases that would help you remember how to handle your issue or problem. Try these interesting sites:

Optimism Inc. on Facebook: community of optimists who share humor, motivation, and a whole lot of optimism.

Dailyinsights.com: daily inspirational and motivational quotes.

Dailypeptalkfromabestfriend.co: daily affirmations; there is a companion podcast; parental warning: this website may contain explicit material that is not appropriate for children or teens (or adults), but I have found more enjoyable and useful material in general on this site.

www.naphill.org:  this foundation provides for weekly newsletter inspiration from Napoleon Hill, who wrote the popular “Think and Grow Rich” in 1937.

Dailyaudiobible.com: produced by Nashville recording producer Brian Hardin, this daily podcast provides a daily reading of scripture, including old and new testaments, psalms, and proverbs, along with commentary and a discussion of prayer and community issues. Brian has the perfect recording voice, and Brian has often raised strong issues for me to reflect upon.

There are many such subscription opportunities that provide inspiration, motivational quotes, and affirmations. I believe that it is helpful to frequently fill my mind with information that is encouraging, uplifting, optimistic, positive, and motivational. Most of all, I look for phrases and quotes that give me pause to reflect on the deeper messages that will spur my life forward in positive directions. I frequently visit blogs, books, websites, and recordings by Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins, Steve Pavlina, Vic Johnson, Napoleon Hill, John C. Maxwell, and Leo Babauta.

I subscribe to all of the above items. Sometimes I am too busy to read and reflect on the items I receive, but I think that it helps to have a constant diet of such information to consider. I think it is important to keep my mind filled with the right kind of thoughts so that I can inspire my students and be a positive influence or support to my colleagues and studio parents.

I apologize for all the clichés that I included in today’s blog post. I could not resist the temptation to pepper my writing with as many clichés as I could generate to illustrate the theme of this post. Although I generally try to avoid clichés when writing, I do find them as useful as my lawyer friend Joe Davis suggested. As a teacher, I have built an arsenal of clichés and expressions designed to paint vivid pictures, build a connection, and resonate with my students.

This week, think about the issues you face personally. Visit some of the sites or information that I suggested above and see if you make a connection with one or more of them. Begin to collect catch-phrases of your own that provide powerful messages that will inspire you to keep on keeping on.

Quick Practice Tip: Get a Really Smart Phone!

Last night I got a text message from my high school senior student asking me for some practice tips for the ricochet bowing. I searched my iPhone for the "Voice Memos" app, hit record, and made an audio recording of a ricochet bowing exercise for my student. I gave the recording a filename and then emailed it to my student. I sent a reply text to alert my student that the recording was on its way.

My students (and their technologically savvy parents) love this! Absolutely love this! My high school senior laughingly refers to it as "having a portable Paula." We have resorted to calling these little snippet recordings "Porta-Paula's." I thank Steve Jobs and Apple for my iPhone. I get a lot of use from it in my teaching arena.

For example, I frequently make short videos of practice exercises for my students and forward them via email to the students and their parent. I have one little boy whose mother does the home practicing but whose father is the person available to bring the boy to lessons. I frequently record practice tips, exercises, and instructions or make short practice videos, and then I email everything to mom. Since she is a Suzuki-trained music educator, I know that these little videos and voice recordings will be all that she needs to stay in touch with what her child and I are doing.

For other students, I make up short practice recordings of songs or areas of songs that we are working on. The students enjoy these recordings. I often use them during lessons as well.  The recordings allow me to have my hands free to work with the student to make adjustments where needed. Not only do the parents have a built-in practice routine that they can follow at home, it also gives me a practice assistant during lessons.

I use many apps on my iPhone for my teaching. I am curious what other apps teachers use in their teaching. This will be a future post for sure!

Happy practicing!

Monday Morning Check In: Thank You, Steve Jobs

Did you ever have one of those days?

You know what I mean, I am sure. The kind of day when things seem to resemble a Salvador Dali or Picasso painting, where things are oozing out of their boundaries or disconnected and sliding along unfamiliar geologic fault lines.

I have had that kind of day. In fact, I have had several days like that. I have been working on an article for posting about the Grasshopper and Giant Complex, and I cannot seem to finish it. I officially gave up about midnight and decided to look at my new Flipboard application for iPad. As I looked through the suggested feeds and selected some items for my new Favorites list, I stumbled across several feeds and photo streams related to last week's earth-shattering event in the Apple world -- the death of Steve P. Jobs. That is when I recognized why my days have been so abnormal. The death of Steve P. Jobs bothered me more than I anticipated. We all have our own thoughts about this, but here is my story.

I have been associated with the "Apple" world since the early 1980's when my ex-husband brought Steve Jobs to my attention and brought home my very first computer. After listening to my ex talk about Steve Job's philosophy regarding computers and the future, I was caught up in the technology myself. We owned an Apple IIe, and I was fascinated with the possibilities. This all occurred at the same time that I had gone back to school to finish my undergraduate degree, actually switching majors to an entirely different field from music to criminal justice with the plan of attending law school afterwards. I used our new computer, my first ever, to write papers, and there were lots of those in my chosen major of "judicial administration." I also secured permission to use Apple's version of "Basic" to program assignments in my Computer Literacy class. I still remain thankful to that instructor from UTSA who allowed me to venture into an additional computer programming world other than the "Basic" program taught at the universities at the time.

I did go on to attend law school, and I was the editor for the Women's Law Caucus newsletter. I did not have my beloved Apple IIe computer with me at the time, and I recall having to do all of my formal Caucus writing on the school's "Wang" system. Thankfully, I had enough training in my UTSA course to understand enough about how the system worked in order to use it. Basically, I got through law school with my old electric typewriter and the school's Wang system computers at the time.

From law school, I then entered the legal work force. Yes, I was still a musician, and I have always been a musician. The other careers I have explored have always been my "seconds." I have given them 100%, but my heart has always been with music and teaching. Still, I am grateful for the opportunities I have had to continue my learning and to broaden my abilities to explore other ways to use technology to teach.

Fast forward to my first job as an attorney. I recall getting my first credit approval. It was not to purchase a new car; it was to buy a new Macintosh computer. Fortunately my new boss from the law firm happened to enter the Apple store at the moment I was making my purchase and was able to give the official approval of my employment. I recall that my first purchase was a big decision, as the purchase was expensive. I believe that Apple has not changed this part of Steve Job's philosophy: one pays for quality. I cannot say that I have ever heard Steve Jobs actually make this statement, but Apple's policy of charging a bit more for things and then delivering the commensurate quality also sent me the message that this was Apple's philosophy: one pays for quality.

Amusing anecdote: When I came home with my new Mac purchase in 1989, my current husband Bob asked me why I had bought the computer. "I need to build a database," I answered, and then tried to explain that I had a 3-foot stack of newspaper clippings and other articles that I needed to organize so that I could complete the book I was writing in law school about Hermine Tobolovsky, the author and spearhead for the Texas Equal Legal Rights Amendment. I used the Mac to write that book and also to complete my legal education and pass the Texas bar exam. I also used the Mac in my profession. I took the Mac to my legal office, and I did much of my work on it. I would then print out what I did and hand it to my legal assistant to finalize.

Unfortunately, in those days, there was no compatibility between Macs or Apple products and PCs. The systems were completely separate from each other, and email was not helpful in the business setting at that time. Basically, I kept up my use of two systems for several years. I like to compose with a keyboard rather than a dictation machine, although I have tried both. I type faster with a keyboard than I think with a machine, so I have always preferred the computer and the keyboard. I used my Mac in the office to compose my memos and other legal briefs, and then I printed out my work for my legal assistant to transcribe. Unfortunately, I did not have the technological setup to make corrections to my legal assistant's work.

When I finally opened up my own law practice (still performing with the symphony), I bought my first PC computer. I did it only because that was the way things had happened in the previous office. And that is the way things continued for many years, I am sorry to say. Finally, I began teaching at Texas State. The school used Mac computers, but there were still throwbacks to PCs as well. I took my PC laptop into my office to complete work. It was a hassle to take the machine back and forth from home, but I did it. When I took technology training, I took it on a Mac machine so that I would be able to function on either system.

The day finally came when I made the switch back to Mac and Apple. I had tired of having to keep my PC running smoothly. I was finished with having to "Scan Disk" and "Defrag" and purchase another update of Virus scan software. Enough already! I used my educational discount to buy a Mac Book. I even paid extra to get it in black.  Then I bought an iPhone. Then I bought my husband a Mac Book (in white). Then I bought an iPad. Then I upgraded to another iPhone. And I have never looked back.

I spend so much less time keeping my computers and other technology devices running smoothly than I did with the PC world. I love my devices. I love the connectivity I have. I love the technology and the philosophy. I am connected in a useful way. I use apps in my teaching. I use iTunes and GarageBand and Mobile Me for so many things in my teaching, group classes, and writing.

Steve P. Jobs was an amazing man. I am not writing this blog post to inform you about Steve and his life, because I do not know much about him (I have pre-ordered his autobiography for December delivery). I have listened and watched his Stanford commencement address and learn something from it every time. I have always been impressed with him since the day I first learned about him from my ex-husband, and I am still learning from Steve's example. If you have not watched this commencement speech, I urge you to do so. You will find it interesting and learn something about Steve as well.

http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

I am part of the generation that was faced with a choice about the future. Do we hang on to the way things were done in the past, or do we grab onto the comet of the future? We were confronted with the pivotal decision of whether we would stick with the way things were as we knew them or whether we would venture into the unknown and learn something new about ourselves and the future.

I choose to follow Steve Jobs. The news of his death this past week hit me harder than I expected. I have spent the week contemplating why that is. My conclusion is that I admired the man. I admired him because he had a vision, a philosophy, and a plan, and he was not afraid to venture into unknown territory. I admired him because he did not settle for defeat but found a way to reinvent himself and to move forward in the face of adversity. I admired him because his presence in the world basically held up a mirror in front of me and frequently reminded me of what I needed to do to make my own mark on the world.

For now, I have Apple's picture of Steve Jobs from its website on my desk top and home screens, and I think I will keep it up there for  a while. I want to remember Steve's legacy.

Thank you, Steve Jobs. You are the reason I am on a computer right now. You made it simple. You made it part of my world. You made it believable, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.