February is Black History Month and I spent some time learning about Harriet Tubman as part of a high school English class I taught. I know you have to be asking what the founder of the Underground Railroad has to do with my writing. And I’m going to tell you how Harriet Tubman keeps my writing going.
But First
Here are a few facts about Harriet Tubman:
- Through her efforts, she led some 300 slaves to freedom, at great risk to her own life.
- Even though she was an epileptic (probably secondary to a beating) she lived to be 92 years old.
- Her efforts gave hope to thousands
- At one point, there was a dead or alive reward of $40,000. Translated into today’s dollars, that’s a few million. That’s Osama Bin Laden reward kind of money folks.
Can you imagine the tenacity of this hero? Given the danger to her, it is hard for me to fathom.
On to lil’ ol’ me
So what does this have to do with me and my writing?
It’s got everything to do with it, frankly. When I get down or grumpy about my numbers being down, or an off color comment left for me, or if I start having a pity party because I can’t find my muse, I remind myself what great people have endured to do something that they believe in. And I say to myself, “Do you believe in what you are doing? Do you know that you can make a difference? How bad are things, anyway?”
And it all becomes clear
I do this because I believe I have something worthwhile to say. Suppose that even one of my posts causes someone to go out and do what they have always wanted but were afraid to. I do believe that what I do makes a difference, and I believe that by holding on to even a thread of the tenacity of Harriet Tubman I can leave things a little better than when I arrived.
Joanna Young over at Confident Writing is making February the month of tenacity. How fortuitous. How appropriate.
I am taking the time right now to reaffirm my tenacity.
Are you tenacious enough to follow along?
Hi George – Harriet Tubman sure was a remarkable woman. Like you said, when we think of great people like her, our problems are nothing.
I hear you on being tenacious. It’s a trait that will definitely help to see us through.
Barbara Swafford´s last blog post..Questioning Life & Blogging About It
Hi Barbara,
Thank you, and thank for the kind Tweet as well.
I hope that folks take this message with them and feel inspired.
George
Everyone finds their inspiration somewhere, and yours is probably more noble than many.
Hi Guffin.
I appreciate you stopping by and thank you so much for the kind words.
Cheers
George
Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth are two of my heroes. They fought when they had not one, but two strikes against them but they didn’t use that as an excuse not to fight.
For me, tenacity means pushing through even when it would be more comfortable for me to quit. I remember back when I was a little firecracker of a high school journalist, I’d constantly get myself into scrapes with my big mouth, always trying to tackle things that were just a bit beyond my ability to handle my newspaper adviser never told me to play it safe. He let me learn by going full speed a head, knocking myself flat out on my butt and then pushed me to get up and go again. I never would have learned how strong I was if I had not been forced to confront my weakness.
Tenacity is still not an automatic habit for me, I still need to push myself to go. I am very glad to have my heroes to look up to and my friends like you, George to remind and encourage me.
Tracy´s last blog post..Is racism the new n-word?
Hi Tracy
Tenacity is not an easy thing. It’s kinda funny how often times we don’t even realize that we are being tenacious while we go about our business. I also think it requires a bit of reflection (like you did) to see how others in our lives have influenced us to be that way.
Right back at ya with the good friend thing. I value it more than you know.
George
It seems that the most satisfying and worthwhile things we can achieve in life require tenacity to become real.
I don’t think it needs illustration beyond that, but I think that George and the other commentators here that have begun building blogs know that tenacity is not optional.
Cheers
Patrick
George, you’re right, it’s good to have heroes and heroines to look up to, to keep us going, to help us keep things in perspective. Tenacity seems to have struck a chord with pepole this month – I guess we’re already at that point in the year when we know we need to dig in to make a reality of the dreams we identified at the start of it.
Joanna Young´s last blog post..Why It’s Worth Sticking with Twitter
Hey Patrick. True story, right there. I’ve learned to let go of some of the things that don’t really matter – and that leaves room for the things that do.
George
Joanna,
You are truly a sage. I am so happy to see how many comments there have been recently on each of your posts. Seems to coincide with the theme change?
I’m happy you stopped by.
George
Hi George,
Like you I find my inspiration from every day people like Harriet. Even though she was a wanted woman she was normal in the true sense. Knowing what normal people can achieve every day makes me a stronger person, ready to push my boundaries at all times.
Thank you for allowing me to see yet another great person.
Monika Mundell´s last blog post..Born Again Twitter User
Hi Monika,
Always a pleasure to see you here. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things. That’s what it’s all about, I think.
Cheers
George