{"id":785,"date":"2013-08-08T06:10:01","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T13:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wordpress\/?p=785"},"modified":"2013-08-07T20:52:01","modified_gmt":"2013-08-08T03:52:01","slug":"being-pragmatic-is-not-a-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=785","title":{"rendered":"Being realistic is not a sin"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

I could look at the sunlight
\nAnd I feel no fear.
\nWith a mountain of maybes
\nAnd some Icarus wings,<\/p>\n

–Danny Elfman\/The Little Things<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

The term realist is sometimes flung around like it’s an epithet.<\/p>\n

I beg\u00a0 to differ. Pragmatism is a good<\/em> thing.<\/p>\n

There is a place for dreaming, but there is also a place for practicality.\u00a0 For the commonsensical.<\/p>\n

One dictionary defines it like this:<\/p>\n

adjective<\/p>\n

dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What is wrong with that? I like things that are sensible. You can be sensible and whimsical at the same time, you know.\u00a0 Dream big, but you’ve got to realize that unless you take some practical and concrete steps and consider the consequences of them, those dreams won’t go anywhere outside your own head or may have unfortunate results.<\/p>\n

Where’s the difference? Like pretty much everything, it’s often in balance.<\/p>\n

Icarus and the Wright brothers shared the same dream of flight. It killed Icarus, but not Wilbur and Orville.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Icarus forgot to be pragmatic and think about what he made his wings of, and where he flew with them once he took to the air. He was so caught up in the excitement of flying that he melted his pretty new wings right off and plummeted to his death.<\/p>\n

Wright brothers. Same dream. They took it slower and lower, but still flew. Wilbur did die young, but of typhus. Orville died of a heart attack in his mid 70’s. They were more pragmatic than Icarus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Probably because Icarus is a\u00a0 myth and the Wright brothers were real.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yeah. It’s true.<\/p>\n

The Wright brothers were real.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  I could look at the sunlight And I feel no fear. With a mountain of maybes And some Icarus wings, –Danny Elfman\/The Little Things   The term realist is sometimes flung around like it’s an epithet. I beg\u00a0 to differ. Pragmatism is a good thing. There is a place for dreaming, but there is … Continue reading Being realistic is not a sin<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lr3R-cF","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9400,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=9400","url_meta":{"origin":785,"position":0},"title":"Considering, reconsidering","author":"Michelle","date":"February 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Do I, don't I\u00a0Could I, should I\u00a0Will I, won't IMaybe, maybe not.\u00a0Sensible, sillyDangerous, safeGood, badCasual, seriousAbsolutely, neverImmediately, next monthA little bit, entirelyOverthinking much?","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5191,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=5191","url_meta":{"origin":785,"position":1},"title":"Too much of a good thing–moderate my what!?","author":"Michelle","date":"April 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I never done good things I never done bad things I never did anything out of the blue, --David Bowie\/Ashes to Ashes I have great difficulty moderating my behavior. 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Misunderstanding. Thinking people are mad at me. Being sad about how I think they feel about something I think I did or said that upset them. Maybe. Or chastising myself for being a nutcase for worrying about things\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3959,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=3959","url_meta":{"origin":785,"position":4},"title":"How do you train an angel?","author":"Michelle","date":"February 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Mara reclined in the sun on her chaise lounge, with a novel and a glass of red wine at her side after a particularly acrobatic evening with Samael who did not appear to be the least bit tired. He never was. 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