© 2012 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. As a youngster I saw a poster with the inscription, “I am Captain of my ship, but I cannot control the weather.” I stood transfixed in front of the poster as I pondered the meaning. The poster showed a wild sea and someone grasping the wheel of the ship resolutely. I spoke to my father about the notion. He smiled indulgently and offered what he thought he was going to be doing upon high school graduation. It was photography, but he could not anticipate how it all changed because World War II started midway through his senior year. He quit school to join in the service of our county. Instead of taking hometown Wedding pictures, he became a combat photographer. He held a camera as he always intended to do, but the weather was quite different.
The more I thought about the poster the more I could see I was in control of myself and at the same time was not completely in control of all of the stuff around me. The weather notion held my attention through many years and many times when the weather had the upper hand over me and yet I always felt I controlled my destiny. I have that saying over my desk as I write.
Perhaps it is true since against all advice I write and talk for a living after coming from stock that worked with their hands. While I am able to repair and construct stuff, I would rather do something else. And who is to stop me other than myself? That is the essence of the American Dream.
Among other things it is the American Dream for each of us to control our own destiny. That is a freedom our country was founded upon, that each of us has our own future in hand and can select different futures if we want. Most of us did not ask someone before we went after a dream, and many of us succeeded or failed against the advice of loved ones and friends. We individually own our failures and successes.
In the Old Country where generations ago many of us originated, if you were born the son of a pig farmer, you would more than likely die a pig farmer. Why? Because your future was not yours, it belonged to the society which needed a dependable supply of pig farmers. You lived for the society so there was little control of your own destiny. Read full column
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