Re: Loving Your Work vs. Respecting It
I never took a class with the professor that I am going to tell you about, but I had a good friend who did, and I think that a particular habit of that professor bears on this discussion.
The professor was a philosophy teacher. This was back in the days when people smoked in class, especially in seminars. That is hard to believe now, I know, but seriously it was common.
When a student held forth with some kind of interpretation or theory, the professor would stare directly at him, take a long drag on his cigarette, and say, "Shee-it."
I think this is how the professor would have reacted to the distinction between loving and respecting your work. The underlying assumption of that distinction (I think) is that loving cannot include the objective judgment that will lead to legitimate respect for your work.
I just do not think that this is true. At least, it is not for me. I cannot think of any writing of mine that I loved but did not respect. In fact, I cannot love anything of mine unless I first respect it.
But maybe that is all just me, since I am meticulous about craftsmanship.
I never took a class with the professor that I am going to tell you about, but I had a good friend who did, and I think that a particular habit of that professor bears on this discussion.
The professor was a philosophy teacher. This was back in the days when people smoked in class, especially in seminars. That is hard to believe now, I know, but seriously it was common.
When a student held forth with some kind of interpretation or theory, the professor would stare directly at him, take a long drag on his cigarette, and say, "Shee-it."
I think this is how the professor would have reacted to the distinction between loving and respecting your work. The underlying assumption of that distinction (I think) is that loving cannot include the objective judgment that will lead to legitimate respect for your work.
I just do not think that this is true. At least, it is not for me. I cannot think of any writing of mine that I loved but did not respect. In fact, I cannot love anything of mine unless I first respect it.
But maybe that is all just me, since I am meticulous about craftsmanship.
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