Grit

Just started listening to a fantastic audiobook (well fantastic so far) – Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth (2016).

The audiobook is read by the author (I love when an author reads their own audiobook) and explores the role of GRIT in the journey to success (however you define success).

Wikipedia describes “grit” as:

…a positive, non-cognitive trait based on an individual’s passion for a particular long-term goal or end state, coupled with a powerful motivation to achieve their respective objective. This perseverance of effort promotes the overcoming of obstacles or challenges that lie within a gritty individual’s path to accomplishment, and serves as a driving force in achievement realization.

Whenever I think of the word “grit”, I think of the movie True Grit (original 1969 and remake 2010).

This movie was based on a novel by Charles Portis (1968). This movie was about a teenage girl hiring a man with “true grit” to capture the man who killed her father. It  is a story of dogged retribution for a wrong, as well as a story of valor and courage.

In the audiobook Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, the author does not discuss hunting down people who do you wrong (could you imagine reading a self-improvement book that focused on that topic, ha!) but explores “natural talent” vs. “hard work and perseverance”.

I am early in the audiobook but I am fascinated by the author’s anecdotal examples of individuals who society or schools wrote off as low aptitude and low achievers who went on to achieve great things due to their efforts, hard work, and perseverance. The author also shares how one teacher believing in one child that no one else believed in can make a huge impact on that child’s life and future. Teachers are higher life forms in my opinion and the lives they positively impact have an impact on society as a whole.

More later on this audiobook as I continue my listen…

Postscript

Speaking of “grit” (or my imaginary grit), I have been hard at work making items for the tierneycreates Etsy shop. I am taking a break from working on art quilts and instead focusing on making fun items for people to enjoy in their homes or give as gifts. I am working on make a bunch of the Vintage Beer Coasters (see the post Quilt Retreat Weekend: The Projects for the story of how I made 9 sets at a quilt retreat and left with retreat with 0 sets as the other quilters bought them all as gifts!)

Postscript Postscript

Do you remember the days of writing letters (on paper!) and adding a “P.S. P.S” after your initial “P.S.”? Well here is one more thought before I close this post:

I continue to enjoy all the blogs I follow by other creative individuals. I wanted to mention one blog post I recently really enjoyed from the blog Dewey Hop in which the blogger discusses interesting finds in the Economics section of the library, discussion of those finds and some wonderful humor:

Economics

The blogger, Feisty Froggy, is blogging through the entire Dewey Decimal system of the local public library in order; and shares favorite finds in each section. If you have followed my blog for a little while, you know about my love of and obsession with the public library.

I look forward to Feisty Froggy’s next post on the next library section!