Expiation

I've never done one of these before, @CalebPinnow, but that was a pleasant stress reliever. I needed those three minutes. Thanks for the challenge.

@rlove327, Dear Dr. Love, this morning I took a stroll down through the You Tube and listened to these songs, all very teen angsty, but very worthwhile - they do make me remember a time when it was shocking to me that actions lacking integrity could go unpunished. A time when it seemed songworthy to call attention to such shamelessness. Now that I'm old[er] - a child at a dinner this weekend said with adorable honesty, "My Dad says this man in these pictures is you, but I don't think you look anything like him." - I'm sorry to find that actions lacking integrity are so commonly accepted as normal that they're not even noteworthy, let alone songworthy. Maybe that's the irony of becoming "the man?" As you suggest, I, too, can choose my own "penance", and make it something I enjoy rather than a punishment. Well, that's privilege. Note, or maybe even song, to self - Must. Do. Better. If I who have the power to do so will not hold myself accountable, who will? Even before the new year's resolutions, I hereby recommit myself to the knowledge imparted by my most cherished fortune cookie find, "The root of discipline is self-respect." And also to it's opposite, as Abraham Heschel put it, "Self-respect is the fruit of discipline, the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself." And also to the words of a modern hero-athlete, Eliud Kipchoge, “Only the disciplined ones in life are free. If you are undisciplined, you are a slave to your moods and your passions.” All of which, ironically, forces me to stop typing and go to work. Thank you, good sir, for another moment of reflection brought on by your writing. : )

True True @rlove327, I'm not surprised to hear that ethic from you. Discipline to what the self wants in the moment, or to a personal ethic, is very different from holding oneself accountable to a community standard - particularly a community standard that isn't personally convenient. In general, however, I hear a lot of "It's not illegal if nobody knows you did it," and "It doesn't matter if you break the law if you're willing to pay the fine." It might be a better example might be to say that "I do what I want," is the motto I hear around me, distinct from "I do what's right." If I do hear someone living out the latter, it's got two more words on the end, "I do what's right for me." It's not really what I think your original post was about, but it got me thinking... now that I've grown up to be "the man," and I really can do whatever I want, will I do what "the man" has always done and take care of "me and mine" or will I discipline that urge and hold myself accountable to community standards that don't serve my personal interests? More poignantly - have we become "the man" that our younger selves would F-bomb?

Yep... cycle of violence, cycle of power... It's all too easy to become that which we fight. As penance, I will now buy ($1.29 today's dollars) a downloadable copy of Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire." Let your red pen flow. Blood on the ice makes great hockey, blood on the page makes great writing. : )

I was always “the man”. I was the one who kept my rowdy friends from doing stupid shit and getting killed… but my heart is still drawn to that “screw you” crowd. @Scratch77, thanks for the tag. Good thread.