Who's one person you truly admire? What are ways in which you try to emulate him or her? At first I deemed that it would be a preposterously easy topic to expatiate on but it turned out that it conver

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Emily

Who's one person you truly admire? What are ways in which you try to emulate him or her? At first I deemed that it would be a preposterously easy topic to expatiate on but it turned out that it conversely bowled me over. I was suddenly struck that I had never had idols. In retrospect, I recall the moment when I was asked to name a person who I truly admired in some girl quiz. I was tremendously perplexed by the question. So I left the margin empty. Oddly enough, this margin is still empty in my mind. Apparently, I'm economical with the truth otherwise it would be rather unacceptable taking into consideration that we're social creatures. Indeed, I admire nobody but I learn from everybody. To some extent I endeavour to admire everybody since every single man is able to impart knowledge and experience. It's quite beneficial to absorb something you're lack of. Just imagine that a perfect man is a massive jigsaw puzzle all the pieces of which have been fit together. It's common knowledge and rather threadbare thought that nobody and nothing can be perfect. Consequently, we all are like incomplete jigsaw puzzles. When we're born, we already have a few puzzles, I call them ''inherited''. However, throughout the whole life, we're taking great pains to fit together these pieces of our own jigsaw puzzles by emulating each other. We copy other people's qualities we're lack of in order to complete our jigsaw puzzle. These pieces I call "acquired". Therefore my idea is that actually we needn't one particular person to admire and emulate. We're able to keep our identity by selecting some strong features from each other. So I bet that better your environment is, the better your jigsaw puzzle is.

Corrections · 10

Who's Which one person do you truly admire? (or "Who do you admire the most?") What are the ways in which you try to emulate him or her?

At first I deemed that it would be a preposterously easy topic to expatiate on but it turned out that it conversely bowled me over. I was suddenly struck that I had never had idols. In retrospect, I recall the moment when I was asked to name a person who I truly admired in some girl quiz. I was tremendously perplexed by the question. So I left the margin empty. Oddly enough, this margin is still empty in my mind. Apparently, I'm economical with the truth otherwise it would be rather unacceptable taking into consideration that we're social creatures. Indeed, I admire nobody but I learn from everybody. To some extent I endeavour to admire everybody since every single man(person - women experience things that men cannot!) is able to impart knowledge and experience. It's quite beneficial to absorb something you're lack of. Just imagine that a perfect man is a massive jigsaw puzzle, all the pieces of which have been fit together. It's common knowledge and a rather threadbare thought that nobody and nothing can be perfect. Consequently, we all are like incomplete jigsaw puzzles. When we're born, we already have a few puzzles, I call them ''inherited''. However, throughout the our whole life, we're taking great pains to fit together these pieces of our own jigsaw puzzles by emulating each other. We copy other people's qualities we're lack of in order to complete our jigsaw puzzle. These pieces I call "acquired". Therefore my idea is that actually we needn't one particular person to admire and emulate. We're able to keep our identity by selecting some strong features from each other. So I bet that the better your environment is, the better your jigsaw puzzle is.(.. a better environment results in a better jigsaw puzzle, and a better person.)

Emily, you have put together a good answer to that question that keeps getting asked.

I agree, we are all unique individuals, and our character is our jigsaw, made up from all of our experiences, our environment, our upbringing, our education, our hobbies, work history, relationships, everything.

Some time ago, I was questioned by a police officer in Wales. I didn't even notice that I had added a bit of a welsh accent to my replies. Maybe when I have spent more time with people speaking Russian, I will start to change my accent again!

Who's one person you truly admire? What are the ways in which you try to emulate him or her?

At first I thought that this would be a preposterously easy topic to expatiate on but it turned out that it conversely bowled me over. I was suddenly struck that I had never had idols. In retrospect, I recall the moment when I was asked to name a person who(m) I truly admired in some girl quiz. I was tremendously perplexed by the question. So I left the margin empty. Oddly enough, this margin is still empty in my mind. Apparently, I'm economical with the truth otherwise (it would be rather unacceptable)* taking into consideration that we're social creatures. Indeed, I admire nobody but learn from everybody. To some extent I try to admire everybody since every single person is able to impart knowledge and experience. It's quite beneficial to absorb something you lack. Just imagine that a perfect man is a massive jigsaw puzzle with all its pieces in place.** It's a common knowledge and rather a platitude that nobody and nothing can be perfect. Consequently, we all are like incomplete jigsaw puzzles. When we're born, we already have a few (puzzles)***, I call them ''inherited''. However, throughout life, we take great pains to fit together these pieces of our own jigsaw puzzles by emulating each other. We copy other people's qualities that we lack in order to complete our jigsaw puzzle. These pieces I call "acquired". Therefore my idea is that actually we needn't one particular person to admire and emulate. We're able to keep our identity by selecting some strong features from each other. So I bet that the better your environment is, the better your jigsaw puzzle will be.

Very well written! But Bluebottle will have to reread to puzzle out the remaining pieces...

*it? (to have the margin still empty in your mind)?

** or a solved jigsaw puzzle.

***pieces already in place?

Thank you for your response to my comments, which, upon rereading them, were quite forthright, although no aggression was intended. You are correct to say that the jigsaw metaphor works better when applied to a person's qualities and traits than to the mysteries of the entire human mind. However, I still think that your idea of a person's aspirations appears rather mechanistic. Striving to attain qualities that you see in someone else but lack yourself sounds to me like a tough psychological exercise. Taking great pains to make yourself more resolved and determined must be very hard. Surely it is better to understand that one lacks certain qualities (a vital defence mechanism) and place more emphasis on one's strengths. Or, even better, I prefer the concept of self-awareness or balance of the self, which are ideals that we usually associate with oriental spiritualism. This might come from sitting in the lotus position once a day, but I think that a better way to accomplish this is by the simple application of thought. Thinking about our sufferings and joys brings us wisdom if it is done with honesty and precision. But although this might sound like an attractive idea it's not the whole story. Great art sometimes comes from balance , understanding and tranquility, but it can also originate from pain , loneliness and instability, in which case its creator will often pull back from replacing personality traits that he does not have. It is not easy to thread one's way through the minefield of a person's qualities of character. So I wish you the very best of luck in your endeavours.

Thank you so much for sharing such profound thoughts with me. I'd add only one thing about my part of comparison people with jigsaw puzzles. You see, I wasn't inclined to compare a human being's mind with a jigsaw puzzle. I compared people's qualities or some treats with it. For instance, personally I was lack of resolution or even firmness, that's the reason why I adore people who are determined. Consequently, I take great pains to copy this piece of jigsaw represented by "resolution". As for the concept "mind", I totally agree with you and Freud just because I'm not so competent in this issue. Though I should admit I'm familiar with his work about mind and its 3 constituents. Oh, you know, one thought dawned on me! Perhaps I've chosen a wrong picture to the essay. That's why you were a bit perplexed by what I really meant. Anyway thank you so much for your worthy corrections!

I enjoyed reading your piece, but I take issue with some of your themes. Our minds are not like jigsaw puzzles, although they are complicated. A jigsaw has nothing of the complexity of the human mind; when it is complete it lies flat and fully interlocked upon a table top. The human mind is enigmatic, because it works with both self-perception and depth, often in incoherent and contradictory ways. The depth of the mind is sometimes referred to as the subconscious, especially by Freudians. These depths are more easily explained by impulses that originate in the formative years of the mind - again a Freudian concept - much more so than by a desire to emulate others. I would love to be able to score runs at cricket, sing and fix my car (not all at the same time), but no effort on my part to imitate admirable experts in these fields will enable me to acquire these jigsaw pieces for my mind. Conversely, I have come across some superb minds in intellectually impoverished environments. It is certainly true to say that we can always learn something from someone else, because we are all different from one another, unlike most modern jigsaw puzzles. Whether or not we choose to do so is a different matter. To admire someone is to be inspired by that person in some way, and while this is similar to learning from someone it is not the same. It is more profound. We feel nervous about the idea of admiring another person, because we know that others can laugh us to scorn if they disagree. No one is perfect, after all, and all heroes have feet of clay. The moment that I say that I admire Leo Tolstoy a critic might jump up and say that he was a hypocritical grumpy old git; but I still think that the fact that he wrote some of the greatest novels in world literature is more important - something that I admire, but find impossible to emulate. But inspiration - that's a different matter ....

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