Daytalking (Completely in the Park), Nightwalking (courtesy of http://www.shinyrobot.com/ who is awesome), and Stargazing (light a fire, kill the dark).

The Best Defense Against Becoming Mediocre

“Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity.” — Will Smith

I’ve thought about this since I was a kid. Well, it seems at least that long.

And I’m willing to bet it occurred to me around the time I developed a fascination with Leonardo da Vinci, Edgar Allen Poe, and Vincent van Gogh. Of course they’re artists that most people would now hold up as examples of excellence.

All-Time Hall of Excellence Greats. Oh and Homer too.

That probably wasn’t the case in their time. (And yeah, I know: aging white males. Guess this has been an ongoing problem for centuries.)

It got me thinking, curious preteen that I was, about my place in the world, raising questions such as, “Am I exceptional? What about my family? Were my late parents examples of excellence? Or were they just mediocre?”

That really got under my skin.

So now I have to ask: What is mediocrity? What is excellence? If mediocrity exists, is it harmful or helpful? Is excellence always good, or even necessary? Does one impede the other? How would we know?

Call me old fashioned, but excellence, I believe, is worthy of respect. Even of awe.