The "Only" People I Admire
As I creep further into adulthood, I'm becoming more conscious of not having brothers and sisters along for the ride. It's a unique condition, to be "alone."I've recently read a couple of books about only children. "Only Child: Writers on the Singular Joy of Growing Up Solo," edited by Uviller and Siegel, is a nice collection of anecdotes by respected authors on their experience. "Only Child: How to Survive Being One" is drawn from a collection of interviews and presents a more generalized picture.The basic ideas presented are that we only children are overly serious, self-centered, emotionally adolescent, and incapable of recognizing others needs. We have no patience, and we take everything personally. On the other hand, we are loyal, well organized, socially adaptable, and very non-confrontational. We want everyone to be happy, to a fault.In a perfectly 'only' display of egotism, I want to point out a few recognizable only children whose work I admire. I think each of their legacies represent a boldly unique approach, and a fearlessness that hadn't been achieved by those who tried before them.
Bob Dylan is arguably one of the most important American songwriters of the last century, and his lyrics reveal a person whose truth comes from within. He has been peerless as a folk musician, never falling into a mold set out by others. He overcame the 'only' stigma of difficult interpersonal relationships, and was close with other musicians like Joan Baez, and his passion for songwriting carried on to his son Jakob, singer for the Wallflowers.
"While you are alone you are entirely your own master and if you have one companion you are but half your own, and the less so in proportion to the indiscretion of his behaviour." Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci's work is important enough that we're still talking about it, more than 500 years later. He didn't limit himself to painting or sculpture, he tried everything. His notebooks are full of philosophical quotes that draw from his solitary life - "Ask counsel of him who rules himself well," and "You can have no dominion greater or less than that over yourself."The photographs created by Ansel Adams convey an unparalleled feeling of solitary enlightenment. Only an 'only' would have sought out and captured the sublimely lonely landscapes with the power and precision that he did.
"Imagine all the people, living life in peace."
John Lennon sang Imagine with a genuine desire for unity, and his endearing marriage to Yoko Ono was an inspiration for lovers all over the world. Lennon was an only child that didn't at all seem alone. That such a gentle person met a violent death is still saddening, 30 years later.The list is long and admirable - Elvis Presley, Ezra Pound, Frank Sinatra. FDR, Al Pacino, Isaac Newton.So, we might freak out if you move around our things when we leave the house, and at times, we might throw a fit at the slightest criticism of whatever we're working on. But after the dust settles, and we see that the things can be moved back, and the criticism wasn't meant to be personal... we might just discover gravity, or something.