Buckle down, Buckaroo.

I have intended to write an article on the value of discipline for weeks now, and, unsurprisingly, I have shown none by avoiding the task and continuing to neglect this blog. Admirably, Jamil has managed to keep this burned-out school bus moving with a few of his best articles to date. In truth, the inspiration for that idea, whatever it was that got the gears going, it's long gone. I recall certain points that I had intended to focus on. I remember thinking about my eleventh grade English teacher addressing a student who was asking if he could break the rules and be experimental with a certain writing assignment. She told him he should demonstrate his understanding of the fundamentals before he starts challenging them. There was a connection I planned to draw between this and the value that our society puts on uniqueness and individualism. Shortcuts and posturing taking precedent over skill development and craftsmanship. I recognize this in my own character. Rarely seeing the allure of utility and practicality. Unfortunately, recognition alone doesn't break a habit. Here I am, however. There have been many opportunities for me to sit down and write. Over and over I have made a decision to not work at this. To recognize a problem and not address it. I drove for ten hours today. It's very hot. I'm tired. I had no intention of doing this tonight, but then I saw that Jamil had posted again and it was in my head. So I'm here alone and this decision was on me. So fuck it. Just start writing, right? I don't have to be full of shit. There was something there and I'll find it.

Having played organized football for eight years as a kid I see how often I was confronted with the fine line between discipline and obedience. The relationships developed between players and coaches and the action of the game form connections to authority that can easily be misread. While a coach can provide the guidance and knowledge to help develop the skills needed to excel at the game and instill a valuable sense of discipline, they can also use their position as an ego-driven power play, demanding militaristic obedience. The results of this ranging from blind rebellion to blind acceptance of all authority. This dynamic plays out with teachers and parents and the nature of our society dictates that there will usually be some balance of both approaches within ever educator. I don't want to start going too far down some child development rabbit-hole because I would be talking out of my ass, but I think our society has a connection to authority similar to that of a confused child. Not simply the authority of individuals, but the authority of history and myths and medicine and media. The impulse being to conform or to fight but rarely to understand and to question. The true value of discipline comes in the recognition of the connection between theory and practice. It's from that spark that true growth and progress can develop.

I don't know if this is what I intended when I first went over this idea in my mind. I know I didn't cover everything I had wanted to get to. I don't know if I got where I wanted to go, but I think I got somewhere. Somewhere small, but somewhere. I'm really tired now, but I did it, okay?