Once upon a toy time, there was Etch-A-Sketch, a creative toy sold for $2.99 in 1960. It was a Christmas favorite for several years. (You can find it today on Amazon for $23.99, “no charging, batteries, or Wi-Fi needed.”)
An Etch-A-Sketch allows one to draw images by manipulating knobs – one on the left for horizontal lines; one on the right for vertical lines. Coordinating one’s hands to draw both straight and curved lines requires tremendous concentration at first, then excitement as one gains mastery.
Don’t like the image? No worries. Turn the toy upside down and shake to start with a clean slate. Love what you created and want something new? Cool. Shake and start over.
What does an Etch-A-Sketch have to do with principles? Ideally, not much. But I suspect it could be a prototype for too many principles today.
A principle is a rule, personal or professional, that guides one’s reasoning and behavior. It is a North Star. A bedrock. Something by which to assess and weigh important decisions.
Science provides these. Galileo discovered principles like speed and velocity, relativity and inertia. Sir Isaac Newton’s biggie was gravity. Aristotle is often thought of as the father of biology. They observed real life, meticulously recording observations and asking endless questions about what, why and how? They created ‘what-if’ scenarios to challenge their observations.
They laid down principles of nature which we respect today in many sciences.
Philosophers established principles, too. Socrates and Plato join Aristotle in this realm. They studied human psyche and behavior, marrying human thought with occurrences in nature to posit the essence of humanity.
As a child of the sixties, I learned and accepted many of these principles. The Ten Commandments were part of my education, as well. I was taught there were consequences for breaking the commandments and encouraged to feel guilt and shame for even the smallest of trespasses.
Turns out guilt and shame can be quite powerful in controlling behavior. The feelings are bad—uncomfortable and unpleasant. I learned to avoid them in a variety of ways.
Today, we avoid judgment, considering it unnecessary for self-regulation and condescending or hypocritical when applied to others. No one is perfect, after all. No one intends to harm others; we just make mistakes. Transgression in one culture is the norm in another.
This is how rules get stretched, bent, then broken without consequence. This is how principles, once accepted as true, become like Etch-A-Sketch drawings. When we don’t like them, we shake them off and carry on.
This has led to confusion, suspicion and tremendous psychological distress. Fearing judgment, we step gingerly, speak with trepidation, and live with near-constant surveillance. It is exhausting.
A better way is to stand strong on principle, remembering your humanity. Find your North Star. Embrace your mistakes as you live and learn. Weave them, with concentration and increasing mastery, into the magnificent work that becomes your life.
