Carolyn Smagalski

Self Respect

Founder - Editor - Host

Emerson had a lot to say about self-reliance.  An innovative thinker himself, he often wrote about the power that man possesses when he casts aside traditional thought and begins to take action based on his own frame of reference.  "When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. It shall exclude example and experience."

On more than one occasion, he writes about the strength that may be found by breaking away from what has been accepted by society as true.  "The virtue in most requests is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion.  It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs."

Where would the world be today - how would life be different - if not for those who broke from mainstream thinking?  Those in the computer chip business, in television, special effects artists - both in the fields of static graphics as well as visual movie effects - telephone communications, software development, and the auto industry.  Free-thinking touches every facet of our society. 

Despite major and minor glitches in Microsoft demos during Bill Gates' keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas in 2005, the professionals at Microsoft take it in stride.   That is the risk of being on the cutting edge!  The “blue screen of death” is merely a signal that greater concentration of effort will be invested during further developments of the newest product line.

It takes courage and verve to be a free thinker and to become the pinnacle of innovation.  The rewards for such efforts are immeasurable.

Content copyright © 2003-2008 by Carolyn Smagalski. All rights reserved.  This content was written by Carolyn Smagalski. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission.  Contact Carolyn Smagalski

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