Month: October 2025

Saga of a Doorknob

Yep, a doorknob.

When I was a child and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was: a doorknob.

That’s right. A doorknob.

It’s no surprise that me saying I wanted to be a doorknob worried my parents

However, it’s important to note that I had given this matter a great thought. It’s true that I wanted to be something that few, if any, people had thought about being. But I also wanted to be something meaningful. I thought that doorknobs provide entry into other rooms, other places, other worlds! And I wanted to be one of those things (a doorknob)  that did that.

So, I decided to see what Copilot (AI) has to say about my childhood predilection, and I was delighted with the answer.

I wrote:

What if a child wants to be a doorknob when they grow up?

Here is the AI response to my question:

That’s delightfully imaginative—and honestly, kind of brilliant. If a child says they want to be a doorknob when they grow up, it’s not about becoming a literal piece of hardware. It’s a window into their creativity, curiosity, or maybe even their sense of humor.

Here’s how you could interpret it:

  • 🌀 Symbolic thinking: Maybe they see the doorknob as something important—something that opens doors, connects spaces, or helps people move forward. That’s poetic!
  • 😂 Playful absurdity: Kids often say things to be silly or get a reaction. It could be their way of exploring language and logic.
  • 🧠 Exploring identity: They might be testing boundaries—what does it mean to “be” something? Can objects have roles like people do?
  • 🎨 Creative expression: This could be the start of a wild story, a drawing, or a game. Maybe they’re imagining a world where doorknobs have personalities and adventures.

Instead of correcting them, it’s a great moment to ask, “What kind of doorknob would you be?” You might get a story about a golden doorknob on a castle, or one that tells jokes every time someone turns it.

Want help turning that idea into a short story or a comic?

Now, I did not respond to the query to move on to a creative tract produced by AI – I’ll leave that to my own creative juices at another time in the future

Find your passion, explore your world

I just finished reading an article in The Atlantic where researchers pose that to encourage students to “find/follow your passion” could set them up for future failure when they discover that their true passion may not exist in the working world.

I was one of those professors who extolled the virtues of discovering one’s true passions to find a career in which one could find success. Truth be told, I still think this is good advice. However, I do see the point that encouraging students to find “perfection” in their passion journey is a setup for failure. There is the issue of reality in a working world of rules, structures, and bosses. The truly passionate student may be shocked to find themselves in a place where following one’s passion is a pipe dream.

What this article presents is a theory I will call “explore your world” where from childhood, people can be interested in numerous subjects. As I think back to my own childhood, I loved math and received the math award in 8th grade while also getting A’s on all my English papers. In play, I adored my electric trains as well as my Barbies and their Dream Car.

I do think it’s important to examine options and other areas outside of one’s “passions,” but when the time comes to hang a hat on the hook, I do think one needs to follow what one’s proverbial heart suggests.

In sum: Find your passion and explore your world — why not both!

Again

Enough reading and raging over everything going on in this country. Enough feeling helpless. Enough watching things like Charlie Kirk, government shutdowns, and innocent people being seized off city streets. There is something to be done, and that is write. No matter how small the audience is, even if only one soul engages here with my thoughts, I’ve made a difference.

But I think the secret is to stop reading, watching, and raging. I believe it is to shut down, shut off, and listen to the wisest songs and lessons of all, those from nature. She has been calling me lately, yet I have blithely been ignoring her call as I remain obsessed with the cesspool of a government led by a true despot.

So, dear reader, it is to the quiet of nature and the pages here before you that I attempt to carve out a tiny piece of joy and serenity, for you and for me.