Mentor Qualities LO20269

Vana Prewitt (vprewitt@bellsouth.net)
Wed, 23 Dec 1998 14:06:34 -0500

Replying to LO20244 --

AM de Lange wrote:

> I have a shocking statement for all of you. No person has ever been
> borne with those qualities. It is like wishing for a seedling, when it
> germinates, to already have the flowers which it will have as a mature
> plant. Those qualities have to be borne within us as we grow older. In
> other words, those qualities have to emerge spiritually just as we
> have emerged physicially by birth.
>
> I have another shocking statement for all of you. No emergence can
> ever qualify as an imitation. Just think of it -- when a baby has been
> born, its mother says: " Aha, my newest imitation".

This is no doubt true. It is a response to particular words I chose that
were not as specific as they should have been. Instead of "imitate"
(i.e.: falsehood), I should have indicated that it is the behavior or
outward manifestations that attract me to my mentors. They demonstrate
behaviors that I do not feel I demonstrate adequately and wish I executed
them better -- more like my mentors.

So, for a semantic dissection of my missive, At is correct. Imitation in
its literal meaning would be an oxymoron to the concept of emulating a
mentor's behavior. One embraces the meaning, the motives, the outward
behaviors, and reaps a sincere sense of accomplishment in thus doing.

kind regards,
Vana Prewitt
Praxis Learning Systems
Chapel Hill, NC

"investing in human capital"

-- 

Vana Prewitt <vprewitt@bellsouth.net>

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