Yin & Yang

Two halves of a whole.

I’m going to start this one off with The Tao of Pooh. “While Eeyore frets…and Tigger bounces…and Owl pontificates…Pooh just is.”

This book by Benjamin Hoff takes a look at Taoist philosophy through the lens of A. A. Milne’s famous character Winnie the Pooh. We find that our beloved Pooh seems to thoroughly embrace a life of simplicity. A life that doesn’t overthink everything to death, and as a result, a highly contented life.

While Eeyore’s often down and feeling sorry for himself, while Owl jabbers on incessantly, while Tigger singularly focuses on bouncing, and while grumpy Rabbit works to enforce some arbitrary set of rules, Pooh, very simply and quietly often figures out the solutions to all of life’s problems for himself and his friends merely by existing and not trying too hard and missing the solution due to overexertion. He’s in harmony with his surrounds and this often leads to some wonderful insights.  (paraphrasing: “We keep looking for home and keep finding the sand pit, perhaps if we look for the sand pit, we’ll find our way home.” Pooh, of course, turns out to be right and by ultimately listening to his tummy, he finds his way home to his stash of honey while Rabbit remains hopelessly lost in the woods)

Hoff’s goal here was to take philosophical discussion out of the hands of academics and make it available to us, the general public. The results are pretty good. I found the book quite engaging both for the entertaining way that it’s explained, and also because much of this rings true. I’ve found I do tend to achieve better results when I approach things with a bit more Pooh.

Well, now that we’ve had the Yin (our positive and uplifting offering), it’s time for some Yang.

Jon Krakauer writes some brilliant books that tell us a very compelling story (of the non-fiction variety) while cutting to the heart of the details surrounding it. In Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, Krakauer takes us through the life of Pat Tillman leading up to his dramatic death in the war in Afghanistan.

Much of this story is known to the public and is available on the jacket, so I don’t think it’s spoiling anything to say that his death was the result of friendly fire. Fratricide in military parlance. The rest of that incident is also fairly broadly known. How the U.S. was suffering some publicly embarrassing setbacks in their questionable campaign in Iraq and seized the opportunity to misdirect the public about the heroic final moments (all fabricated) of a national hero, Tillman, a multi-million dollar NFL player who walked away from the easy life to service his country, and to do what he felt was right and honorable, and how he fought the enemy to the bitter end. How pretty much every step of the chain of command, from the very top to the very bottom conspired to cover up the true events of his death, thoroughly trampling on the very legacy of everything Tillman stood for, purely for political gain (something that has happened repeatedly throughout both wars over there). And finally, how it was only through the dogged determination of the family that turned out this extraordinary person, and the efforts of his strong and determined wife, that this story finally came to light.

There’s a really good chance this book will piss you off. The actions taken by so many are so thoroughly unconscionable and contrary to their stated mission, and that alone makes the book tough to read at times. Throw in Pat Tillman, and the subject matter here can really make your blood boil. Tillman was no saint, but at the same time, he was closer than a lot of us, and not in a religious sense, but in his strong sense of duty, honor, and his fierce defense of what was right. I’d highly recommend this book (and really, pretty much any of Krakauer’s stuff). There is much richness to be obtained in the life of Tillman, and his family has much to be proud of. The world is poorer for his death, and though everybody involved in the cover-up should’ve been given their walking papers at least, and harsh prison time at worst, very few have been punished or even reprimanded. So much for honor.