SELF MADE BADGE OF HONOR, OR GLORY HOG

The self proclaimed ‘self made’ man stands alone all by himself.

No one else gets any credit for his accomplishments because:

A: His accomplishments are so meager no one knows, or,

B: He’s been shunned.

Which is it, because no man is a self made man.

If you don’t believe your favorite blogger, ask Arnold.

 

“Don’t ever, ever call me a self-made man.”

 

That ought to do it, but there are exceptions.

When we hear someone proclaim themselves as a self made man and we jump up to cheer, it’s usually because of what they’ve accumulated, accomplished, and grown from nothing.

But a man who started with nothing and never asks for help, who drives people away because they’re jerks, usually ends ends up the same way, with nothing.

Yet, for some reason people like to call themselves self made men.

It works until you scratch beneath the surface of their personal veneer.

They are self made with their wife’s help, then start talking it up when they’re on their third wife.

That goes for the rising star until it’s revealed they were bankrolled by their family.

Or, supported by an organization they pay dues to.

Reddit offered this from Commissioner Odo as proof against the myth:

It goes a lot further than just people directly helping you too. None of us built the schools we went to, none of us built the roads we use or the transportation we use, none of us created this network of information we all use.

The societies we’re born into lift us up if we’re lucky enough to be born somewhere with these things at all. Even if you grew up a poor orphan in a first world country and ended up successful, you’re not self-made.

Humans have never been self-made. It’s the folly of the mega rich that they so often help mold their society into a place they actively dislike living, thinking they didn’t need the very world around them to become who they did.

 

The Helping Hand Says:

You can do this.

How can I help.

Let’s try another way.

This worked for me, it might work for you.

After you finish this part, move to the next.

You’ve made a good start, what’s next?

 

Self Made Writer?

No where is the myth weaker than it is for a writer.

First they had help learning how to write.

They had teachers.

Writers have readers who give their feelings.

Some with praise, some critical, all a benefit.

I visited a museum with an exhibit on homemade books.

People living under the radar and off the grid died and left their writings in books they made themselves.

The books were full of dull gibberish that marked a time and place.

From what I could tell it was a hard time and a bad place, but someone wanted to document their life with a book.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of dull gibberish. And books.

I’ll pick up a book, click on a website, and read dull gibberish until I’ve had enough.

It’s usually a five minute effort, which is longer than readers spend here on average.

My point is that the dull gibberish here is a product of a college education funded by loans, grants, and the G.I. Bill.

The work here is a result of writing seminars, writing conventions, classes, and How To Tell Your Story, which was more than a class.

It’d also the work of hopes and dreams, time and situations, people and places.

A big part is a determination to get better. Writing better, feeling better, and passing it along.

This isn’t the Huffington Post with millions of readers drawing millions of dollars in ads and promotions.

But it is a corner of the internet I like to call my shop.

It’ll be here when I’m dead and gone, like the homemade books left by pioneers.

Except my place depends on power and technology that may or may not last.

The homemade books win for longevity, dullness, and gibberish, but only by a hair.

Are you ‘self made?’