It is time to get on the list for September’s talk on the theme DARE!

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This month’s themed thoughts are by Michael Ogden.

Dare to Play the Fool

— michael r. ogden
teacher, scholar, storyteller

Dare – verb, uk /daer/ us /der/
to be brave enough to do something difficult or dangerous, or to be rude or silly enough to do something that you have no right to do.

Cambridge Dictionary (online)

As an academic, words matter. I imagine the same is the case for most people. Reflecting upon this month’s Creative Mornings theme of “dare” I find the word to be powerful, challenging, and enabling. But it can also be the gateway to foolishness—which, in a way, is also powerful, challenging and enabling! Let me explain.

As a young, impetuous child growing up on a farm, my siblings and I would frequently dare each other to do things we normally would not have done. Most of these were innocuous, “I dare you to climb to the top of the cherry tree,” hardly even a challenge! One day the dare was to ride on the back of our smallest and friendliest steer, “Curly” … it didn’t work out as I planned. Curly walked out of the barn a bit perplexed, I imagine, having me on his back and he was not having any of it! I met a quick and ignoble end having been bucked-off of Curly’s back and into a large compost heap of manure (much to the amusement of my siblings!). Sometimes, a dare prods us into playing the fool. I survived the dare (with a bruised ego and bum), so what did I learn by daring to taking up the challenge … and failing? Like so many dares we face in life, I learned to think twice before accepting the next challenge! But this is the safe choice, and as the late Harry J. Gray, American business manager, philanthropist, and former CEO and chairman of United Technologies once said, “no one ever achieves greatness by playing it safe.”

Of course, most childhood dares are for the entertainment of the person(s) issuing the dare. They are not intended to be life-threatening, but humorous, and certainly embarrassing! But what if you are the one who issues the dare? And, what if that dare is to yourself? These tend to be the hardest dares of all and frequently cause us the think twice; disempowering our abilities, foreclosing our choices, and denying us a chance to write ourselves anew. Being impetuous and foolish comes with youth, but as we mature into adults, we fear being labelled “the fool” and frequently don’t take up the dare—especially self-imposed challenges that take us well beyond our comfort zone. But, when you dare yourself to take on the challenges that stretch you when you’re brave enough to give yourself permission to “play the fool,” you empower yourself to take an active role in shaping your life. As you make the conscious effort to dare yourself by setting “impossible” goals—and achieve them or fail in the trying (but learn to keep trying!)—you are going to have a richer life experience. As Linda El Awar, a freelance management consultant, stated, “The cost of playing it safe … could far exceed the cost of daring to change.”

In the years since my life on the family farm, I often shirked off the dares of others but I have always taken on the dares I issue to myself. Sure, sometimes I played the fool, and probably still will, but even these occasions have led me to new and interesting learning experiences that have made my life the wonderful story it is today … and that story is still being written!