Is it possible to serve a single master? Or, are we bound to belong to many masters?
Do our masters define us, or do we quantify our masters through our dedication? Do our talents master us?

Can we equally serve a spouse, children, a job and our talents?
Or is there a dithering of importance between all our masters — creating an unequal hierarchy we cannot control but must always loyally serve?

18 Comments

  1. Hi David
    I think in much the same way that multitasking at work reduces one’s effectiveness on a particular task so can multitasking one’s personal life have the same effect.
    To back that up simply ask anybody with a job and children whether they think they spend enough time with their kids.
    That doesn’t mean that we can’t do it, or that we can’t devote “quality time” (I’m sorry, I hate that phrase, but I couldn’t think of another suitable one) to the important people in our lives, be they family, friends or colleagues.
    Of course I’ll be ditching the job just as soon as I can 😉
    Cheers
    Mike

  2. Hi David,
    I think that one’s priorities change with the passage of time, so the master today might not be the master tomorrow.
    Right out of college I thought the most important thing in the world was my career. Later I realized that work was important as a means to make a living, but it wasn’t the most important thing in my life. Of course, I wasn’t one of those people who was lucky enough to have a job I really, really liked and was an expression of me.
    I think that masters do dither and argue and sometimes you just have to say “Stop all this and let me be me.”
    Donna

  3. Hi Mike —
    Yes, it does seem we are pulled in many different directions by those entities, both real and ethereal, that pull is all directions because each of them claims ownership of us.
    I don’t think it is possible for a person to be their own master — even if they are serving their talent above all else, their talent never belongs to them — talent belongs to the rest of us.

  4. Hi Donna —
    I’m not sure if it is healthy to play to so many changing masters or the individual gets lost. Priorities may change, but aren’t masters forever?

  5. Hi David,
    Yes, I agree. Too many masters spoil the individual. That’s what I meant by “Stop all this and let me be me.”
    Donna

  6. Hi Donna!
    Are we ever able to live without a master? Do we need that relationship to give us form? I think the problem with the world is people are choosing and then honoring the wrong master.

  7. Hi David,
    Yes, I agree, we cannot live without a driving force– the master or masters. We do need that relationship to define us and give us motivation for living. Without it, there would be no need to carry on.
    Donna

  8. Hi David,
    You are right; it’s not possible for a person to be their own master. As long as you are not alone in a jungle, it’s always a tight rope walking balancing all possible dynamics in one’s life.
    We feel we are our own master though!

  10. Katha —
    That is the trick of living: Forgetting we are not our own master. Memory is a dangerous and tricksy thing. We must force ourselves to erase what we know.

  12. Hi Katha!
    I think we are programmed to belong to other people. Therein lurks the danger. We tend to believe in others than believing in ourselves.

  17. Some of us are not masters of anything – I for instance have no one talent that outshines the others. However I am Master ( or should that be Mistress) of myself.

  18. Hi Nicola —
    I think we all have a master and it is our task in life to discover that devotion. I don’t think it’s possible to be your own master in the sense in which we’re arguing today.

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