Portrait Of An Immigrant
Many years ago a friend who worked for a company that operated trains in the northeastern United States showed me a letter that he found in the company’s archives. It was written during the 1930s from a manager to a man who was supervising the building of a bridge. It assured the supervisor that he had the authority to fire his Italian crew and replace them with “white men.”
Two Principles Of Change
While writing the previous post, What It Takes To Change My Mind, I thought of a post I wrote some years ago at a now defunct blog. It is about change in general. I dug it up, tweaked it, and posted it below. Also, I wanted to offer something to those of you who might be sick of hearing about my ancestry.
Two principles of change seemed to hold true during the years that I worked as an organizational change agent. Call them “laws” if you wish, but I think of them as useful notions to keep in mind when guiding the work of change or when trying to effect a change in your own life.
What It Takes To Change My Mind
For years I believed something I was told by experts that now appears to be wrong. Which brings up lots of questions. Can I, not really an expert in the field, be right while all the experts are wrong? What else have I been told and believe that might be wrong? Are the experts going to malign me for this? And the big over-arching question: what does it take to change our minds? I’ll try to answer the last question at the end of this post, but first I want to explain what I think is probably wrong.
Is A Puzzlement
There are times I almost think I am not sure of what I absolutely know. (The King and I)
“Why this? Why now?,” I ask myself, “What is the practical use of this reaching out to ancestors?” (see The Hedgehog People) I also ask, “What is the added value of it for people who read this blog?”
Why This?
I am a life-long and chronic puzzler. I puzzle over the human condition. Over the nature of consciousness. Over what roster move might take the Phillies to another World Series. I do crosswords. I also try to heed the advice of Byron Katy to, “Follow the simple directions.”
The Hedgehog People
Do you know people of Italian descent whose surname begins with ricci or seems derived from ricci? If so, you might want to tell them about this post. You might rescue them from a grave misconception. You might boost their sense of who they are; especially if they are bald. Or maybe it is you. 
Here is a list of such names: Riccio, Rizzi, Rizzo, Rizza, Risso, Riccelli, Ricciarelli, Riccetti, Riccini, Riccioli, Ricciolino, Ricciulli, Ricciotti, Riccioni, Ricciuto, Ricceri, Riccitiello, Rizzello, Rizziello, Rizzetti, Rizzetto, Rizzini, Rizzoli, Rizzola, Rizzotti, Rizzoni, Rizzone, Rizzari, Rizzato, Rizzieri, Rizzuti, Rissolo.
Scoprire La Mia Famiglia
Discovering My Family
Lately, the time I usually use to write here has been absorbed by a different adventure. An Alex-Haley-Roots kind of adventure, except that I didn’t have to wander far off the Internet in order to take it. I plan to recount the adventure in the next “I don’t know how many” posts. It involves these people,
this place,
a European hedgehog,
and much more, including what I experienced and learned along the way, and the debunking of a long-standing etymological myth.
OK. That’s a teaser; I admit it. Stay tuned.
________________________________
Thanks for reading. Leave a comment >>
Subscribe to Riding On Dragons by Email
The Tin Man, the Heart, and Oil in the Gulf
I don’t have many words to go with this post. Just two videos.
THE TIN MAN
(I found it impossible to watch the whole seven minutes. You will get the idea in about forty-five seconds.)
THE HEART
Enough said.
Favorite Blog Posts for March 2010
Here are blog posts that really caught my attention last month. Thanks to the authors! If you are only going to read one of these, read the first one, by Kenji Crosland, which contains this utterly brilliant line:
An epiphany is the moment when you run out of excuses for yourself, and nothing is left but the truth.
A special thanks for that Kenji.
The Greatest Lesson I Chose Not To Learn
from Unready and Willing by Kenji Crosland
That Moment Where the World Stops
from Sources of Insight by JD
