Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel
I should be folding clothes right now, but I'm waiting for Terence to email a report he needs me to edit, so I thought I'd take a moment to blog. Much more enjoyable than folding clean laundry!
Awhile back I posted about stumbling across Robin McKinley and falling in love with her books. I've been rolling around in my head what in particular I like so much about these novels, trying to nail it down. It's been difficult, but a particular post from Sarah Hoyt (another author) help me put a finger on one of the major things I appreciate about McKinley's novels.
It's the concept of duty.
For some reason, I am drawn to stories that have main characters or a culture where doing your duty-- even if it is difficult, unappreciated, or unpleasant-- is shown in a positive light. When it comes down to it, I enjoy stories where people decide to put aside what they would rather do and take up their obligations, even if it isn't fair, for the greater good of their family or their society.
Perhaps it's because we bestow precious little praise on people who choose to do their duty nowadays, no matter how unpleasant. We laud those who "go for their dreams" even at the expense of others. We excuse people who break promises because "they weren't happy" or "they made a mistake." There is scant respect for someone who chooses to honor commitments to others instead of "being true to themselves."
Sarah and her commenters, in the blog post that I linked, agree that we are lacking in this area nowadays and propose various reasons for it. They are mostly talking about raising children and parenting, but I think the concept applies to many areas of our lives.
Much of my life is full of duties that I need to shoulder. They are not glamorous. They don't bring me much pleasure. But they need to be done. To paraphrase Sarah's friend, to be a grown-up I need to learn to derive my happiness through fulfilling my obligations. Only children expect life to be fun and exciting with themselves at the center of the universe. Our Heavenly Father, who I would consider the ultimate example of perfect adulthood and parenthood, says that his work and his glory is to bring about our immortality and eternal life. A duty, if you will.
There it is. In fiction, even though it is my escape, I like to see people tackling their responsibilities, not pawning them off or saying that it's not fair. I like to read about them succeeding. Most of all, I love books that show me the beauty in choosing to do what's right instead of what's easy.
It makes me a little more motivated to go back and tackle the duties of my life. Speaking of which, I have some laundry that needs to be folded. I'm off to find a little happiness in taking care of my own little corner of obligations!
Awhile back I posted about stumbling across Robin McKinley and falling in love with her books. I've been rolling around in my head what in particular I like so much about these novels, trying to nail it down. It's been difficult, but a particular post from Sarah Hoyt (another author) help me put a finger on one of the major things I appreciate about McKinley's novels.
It's the concept of duty.
For some reason, I am drawn to stories that have main characters or a culture where doing your duty-- even if it is difficult, unappreciated, or unpleasant-- is shown in a positive light. When it comes down to it, I enjoy stories where people decide to put aside what they would rather do and take up their obligations, even if it isn't fair, for the greater good of their family or their society.
Perhaps it's because we bestow precious little praise on people who choose to do their duty nowadays, no matter how unpleasant. We laud those who "go for their dreams" even at the expense of others. We excuse people who break promises because "they weren't happy" or "they made a mistake." There is scant respect for someone who chooses to honor commitments to others instead of "being true to themselves."
Sarah and her commenters, in the blog post that I linked, agree that we are lacking in this area nowadays and propose various reasons for it. They are mostly talking about raising children and parenting, but I think the concept applies to many areas of our lives.
Much of my life is full of duties that I need to shoulder. They are not glamorous. They don't bring me much pleasure. But they need to be done. To paraphrase Sarah's friend, to be a grown-up I need to learn to derive my happiness through fulfilling my obligations. Only children expect life to be fun and exciting with themselves at the center of the universe. Our Heavenly Father, who I would consider the ultimate example of perfect adulthood and parenthood, says that his work and his glory is to bring about our immortality and eternal life. A duty, if you will.
There it is. In fiction, even though it is my escape, I like to see people tackling their responsibilities, not pawning them off or saying that it's not fair. I like to read about them succeeding. Most of all, I love books that show me the beauty in choosing to do what's right instead of what's easy.
It makes me a little more motivated to go back and tackle the duties of my life. Speaking of which, I have some laundry that needs to be folded. I'm off to find a little happiness in taking care of my own little corner of obligations!
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