Failure or Honest Living?

1/5/2017

by Dr. Mike Davis, Ph.D.
Head of School

Welcome back from Winter Break. I am always excited to return for the second half of the school year, in large part because of the remarkable place that we return to. This is an amazing school. Every day, I am inspired by all that I see. During the first half of the year, I spent a good deal of time in classrooms, going to games, seeing artistic performances and, in those moments, truly being humbled. We have teachers and coaches who give so much to our students, and students, in turn, give so much back. They do so with incredible character and poise.

That is what many consider the mark of a CA student: young people who display amazing civility, kindness, and courage. Thank you!

Are we perfect? Of course not. We all make mistakes, but what matters when mistakes happen is how we choose to carry ourselves afterward: how we seek reconciliation and understanding of the self and others. We often feel a lot of pressure or are fearful of making mistakes. Here is a story of why mistakes are really ok.

Consider Bob Dylan. He is one of my heroes and one of the greatest artists of all time. A folk and rock singer songwriter, his artistry transcends any simple definition or genre. This was affirmed recently when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. It is unprecedented for a musician to be given the prize for literature. Dylan's lyrics in songs like “The Times They are A-Changin',” “Blowin' in the Wind,” “Tangled Up in Blue,” and “Shelter from the Storm” are truly poetic. They conjure visions and a prophecy about the future. Dylan knows how to take little moments in life and use his words to create masterful visions. In fact, as Americans in the early 1960s became aware of his poetry and lyrics, he was often described with religious descriptions. Ever mysterious and humble, Dylan, when asked what he was – poet or musician or prophet – he would answer, "I am a guitarist." And he is. And he can rock. I have seen Dylan in concert seven times, and each time was an exhilarating experience.

After the announcement of this prestigious award, Dylan avoided the Nobel Prize committee, and for some time, he didn't even acknowledge the award. When he finally did, Dylan was cryptic about whether he would attend the ceremony in Stockholm. The day came, and he skipped the honors. While much has been made of that, I believe it is because his artistry has always been about observing the emotions, behaviors, and actions of others, and by taking part in the ceremonies, with dignitaries and royalty, it would have contradicted his observer status and made him oh, so human by pursuing the public recognition. He reportedly had a pre-existing commitment, but he arranged for a speech to be delivered on his behalf.

Musician and writer Patti Smith was that designee, and she attended in his stead. Smith is an outstanding and inspirational artist in her own right – punk rocker, poet, and avant-garde artist. Backed by a symphony and faced by a crowd of people in coats and tails, gowns and tiaras, Smith sang one of Dylan’s most impressive songs, "A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall." It is a song filled with bleak imagery about the struggles we face. It is built on a question and answer pattern of a traditional British ballad. It came out just after the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, and many thought it was related to nuclear fallout. But, Dylan who had written it a month prior to that event, expressed the more existential meaning of the song: " I mean some sort of end that's just gotta' happen.” In the liner notes of the album, he writes, “Hard Rain is a desperate kind of song. Every line in it is actually the start of a whole song. But when I wrote it, I thought I wouldn't have enough time alive to write all those songs so I put all I could into this one."

So, back to CA for a second. Our students step up every day to find some truth – about academics, and athletic or artistic endeavors – but most importantly, what students learn every day by going to school is that they learn about themselves. Dylan did the same thing.

As Patti Smith set out to perform this song and honor her friend Dylan, the emotions were tough to avoid. Even though she has given probably thousands of performances as a musician and poet, what she could not escape was the understanding of each person’s mortality – the beauty, and importance, and finality of what we are allowed to do in this life.

Smith is a professional, and in one of the most important performances of her life at the Nobel Prize ceremony, believe it or not, she momentarily forgot the words. After her performance, Patti Smith said, "The opening chords of the song were introduced, and I heard myself singing. The first verse was passable, a bit shaky, but I was certain I would settle. But instead, I was struck with a plethora of emotions, avalanching with such intensity that I was unable to negotiate them. From the corner of my eye, I could see the huge boom stand of the television camera, and all the dignitaries up on the stage and the people beyond. Unaccustomed to such an overwhelming case of nerves, I was unable to continue. I hadn’t forgotten the words that were now a part of me. I was simply unable to draw them out.”

She continued, “This strange phenomenon did not diminish or pass but stayed cruelly with me. I was obliged to stop and ask pardon and then attempt again while in this state and sang with all my being, yet still stumbling. It was not lost on me that the narrative of the song begins with the words, ‘I stumbled alongside of twelve misty mountains,’ and ends with the line, ‘And I’ll know my song well before I start singing.’ As I took my seat, I felt the humiliating sting of failure, but also the strange realization that I had somehow entered and truly lived the world of the lyrics."

I loved her message. Sometimes, what one person might view as failure, another sees as just a more honest way of living life. Again, Welcome back and Happy 2017.

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