This is what we talked about on The Invisible Mentor Blog this week: Silas Marner by George Eliot, Mentor Yourself: Profile of Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, and 15 Deserted Island Books.

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Adventures in Learning

This post contains links to four professional development articles.

Adventures in Learning: 4 Articles to Aid Professional Development 

Booked for Mentoring

Silas Marner by George Eliot has a very ominous start, and you find yourself asking many questions like what do they mean by disinherited race, the Evil One and the living dead? Sounds like a ghost story doesn’t it? The story is about an outsider, and how he becomes an insider. Most socialized people do not like the feeling of being outside looking in, but Silas Marner feels comfortable doing just that, why?

Mentor Yourself: Book Review – Silas Marner By George Eliot 

Wisdom of Life Profile

How would you feel if someone you trained was promoted over you to become your supervisor at twice your salary? That’s what happened to Mary Kay Ash at World Gift Company, so she quit her job, planning to write a book for women on the art of selling. As she got ready to write, she outlined what an ideal company would look like, drawing on the experiences she had at both Stanley Home Products and World Gift Company.

Mentor Yourself: Profile of Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics 

Interviews for Mentoring

This week we did something a bit different, and culled interview responses for tips on How to Generate Great Ideas and 15 Deserted Island Books.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

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Related articles

• Mentor Yourself: Profile of Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics (theinvisiblementor.com)

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Book Review – Silas Marner By George Eliot

Bad things happen to all of us, although it may appear that some people have more valleys in their lives than others. When bad things consistently happen, are we being prepared for something great? I cannot answer that question, but it’s one that is worth thinking about.

I’m slowly easing into reading the classics, and it’s a change of pace for me, but I have started to enjoy them. I get very emotionally involved when I read books and I do not know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. The more I read the classics, the more I get to know myself.

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To get the most from this SummaReview, after you have read it, answer the following questions:

1. Is this a book you’d like to read for myself? Why? Why not?
2. What are your impressions of Silas Marner?
3. What has made an impression on me in this reading?
4. Were there any kernels of wisdom in this reading?
5. Is there a framework that you can use in your life and work?
6. What are five takeaways from the SummaReview?
7. What is one action that you can take as a result of reading this SummaReview?

Silas Marner by George Eliot has a very ominous start, and you find yourself asking many questions like what do they mean by disinherited race, the Evil One and the living dead? Sounds like a ghost story doesn’t it? The story is about an outsider, and how he becomes an insider. Most socialized people do not like the feeling of being outside looking in, but Silas Marner feels comfortable doing just that, why?

Silas Marner is a linen weaver, and a fairly happy person. He has a best friend, William Dane and a fiancée, Sarah, a young servant woman. Marner is also a part of Lantern Yard, a church community and is very actively involved.

One day Silas Marner is summoned to Lantern Yard and is accused of stealing money from the church. Marner had always been an honest person all his life, yet when he tells them that he didn’t steal the money, no one believes him. Though he is a simple person, he figures out that the culprit is no other than his best friend William Dane. Marner has no hard proof and he is found guilty by the “drawing of lots” and is banished from his faith community. About a month later his fiancée and best friend get married.

That’s too much for Marner so he leaves and settles in the village of Raveloe far away. Marner makes no effort to get to know the residents, and when people don’t know you they make up tales to satisfy their curiosity. They have to deal with him though because he is an excellent linen weaver. Marner is paid much better for his services than he was accustomed to, and is able to save most of the money.

Marner loses his way because he has no purpose in life. He lives a miserly life hoarding the money, and he starts to metaphorically worship the money. Each evening after eating supper, he takes out his money from the hiding place and counts it – he appears to get a high from that ritual. One evening after going out for a short period of time, he didn’t close his door because he thinks it’s very safe. When he returns, he has an urge to count his money before eating, but lo and behold the money is missing. He searchers everywhere thinking that perhaps he had put it in some other spot. Not only did Marner hoard his money, but he equated it to companionship.

Also in the story, you are learning about Squire Cass and his lazy sons, and you are now wondering what does this have to do with Silas Marner. But the reader figures out what’s going on a very long time before the characters do. Silas Marner by George Eliot focuses on two of the Squire’s sons, Godfrey and Dunstan Cass. Dunstan pressures Godfrey to do things like giving him money that’s been collected for their father. Godfrey is weak and has a secret that he doesn’t want others to know about. He is in love with Nancy and people wonder why he doesn’t propose, but he can’t because he is already married to someone who is addicted to opium. Dunstan knows his brother’s secret and holds it over his head.

It’s worthy to note that the same time Silas Marner’s money is stolen, Dunstan Cass disappears, but no one makes the connection. Is it because he is from a wealthy family and is believed to be above reproach? When Marner tells the story about the money he does so in a clear and simple manner, and you have no choice but to believe him. His life ceases to have meaning when his money is stolen, but it also sets him free.

One New Year’s Eve, a two year old toddler wanders into Marner’s home and falls asleep on the hearth. When he discovers her, he wonders where she came from. Following her tiny footsteps, he finds a dead woman. Hugging the child he reports what has happened, and the “authorities” go to take a look. Godfrey insists on going to take a look, why? Because he thinks it is his wife, and it is, but he doesn’t say anything, and doesn’t claim his daughter. Instead, he marries Nancy.

Marner refuses to give up the girl who he has named Eppie because he believes she was sent to him, and with the help of the town he manages. Godfrey helps out but never discloses why, and over the years, he tries to get Nancy to adopt Eppie but she refuses. They had one child together which died. Having to take care of Eppie brings meaning to Marner’s life, and he once again becomes a likeable person – he also sees the goodness in others.

At some point, years later, Godfrey realizes that it was his brother who stole Marner’s money. Dunstan never returns to Raveloe, however, Godfrey does the right thing by returning the money to Marner. When Eppie turns 18 years, Godfrey suffers from a crisis of conscience. He finally confesses to Nancy and they decide to adopt Eppie. However, Marner is the only father Eppie has known and he always took care of her and showered her with love all through years.

Eppie turns down Godfrey’s offer because she has no need for his riches.

Marner asks Eppie to journey with him to the place he came from because he has some unfinished business. When they get there, Lantern Yard no longer exists, could that have been the disinherited race? Marner cannot find anyone he knew decades ago.

We like to have puzzles solved, and things to be nice and tidy, but that’s not life and sometimes we simply have to make peace. Silas Marner by George Eliot demonstrates the importance of having a purpose in our lives. Money is meant to do good not to hoarded and worshipped. Sometimes we have to lose things in order to find more important things. I recommend Silas Marner by George Eliot.

SILAS MARNER – THE WEAVER OF RAVELOE PART 1

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SILAS MARNER – THE WEAVER OF RAVELOE PART 2

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SILAS MARNER – THE WEAVER OF RAVELOE PART 3

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SILAS MARNER – THE WEAVER OF RAVELOE PART 4

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SILAS MARNER – THE WEAVER OF RAVELOE PART 5

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SILAS MARNER – THE WEAVER OF RAVELOE PART 6

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SILAS MARNER – THE WEAVER OF RAVELOE PART 7

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SILAS MARNER – THE WEAVER OF RAVELOE PART 8

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SILAS MARNER – THE WEAVER OF RAVELOE PART 9

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SILAS MARNER – THE WEAVER OF RAVELOE PART 10

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Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Book link is affiliate link.

Related posts:

1. Booked for Mentoring: Book Review – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
2. Book Review: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
3. Book Review: Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
4. Book Review: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, Translated by Edward Fitzgerald
5. Mentor Yourself – Book Review: Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach

Here is Part Two of Mary Lou’s interview. You can read Part One and refresh your memory. How similar is her interview to her mother’s, Lois Fallis?

How do you integrate your personal and professional life?

I wrote my personal life for the stage. I can’t separate my personal and professional life. I am old enough, confident and experienced enough that I can negotiate a fee. The way that I make a separation is that I have an office outside my home which is very important for me because our house is very small. My husband, Peter and I don’t do stuff that involves musicians together. He has his own friends in the Symphony, and I have my own friends and we don’t often socialize with people in the business together. We socialize together with family, but we are not a power couple.

What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?

Sometimes I wish that I had traveled more earlier in my life because I don’t know if it’s going to happen much now. Not studying more languages is also a major regret. But I have also had some very wonderful life experiences. I feel like I have been given an awful lot in my life and I am very grateful, so if something were to happen I’d be sad, but it would be okay. I would be okay.

What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

1. Be kind to yourself because things are unfolding as they should. I sound a little philosophical, but there is a process and you cannot rush it. The important processes in life take time, and that’s a big thing.
2. Don’t hang around people who are not interested in you, and don’t bring people into your circle who are undermining you.
3. Get help during major periods of feeling down and depressed. Don’t shut yourself off.
4. Don’t ignore your body, although I do sometimes, but when I get back into swimming and working out, I realize how important the physical activity is for your body and I don’t do it as often as I should.
5. I don’t believe in strictness and that there are rules, but there is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. I think the letter is important because people have taken the time to study and write it down, and often the letter is a good guideline but it’s the spirit of the law that’s more important.
6. It also important to find a community that you can find a place in. It could be a church, a professional organization, volunteer or library. It’s a place where you have someone to corroborate your beliefs, a place where you’ll find people who you respect.

When you have some down time, how do you spend it?

I read, watch TV, walk, have a bath and have lunch. I like to visit old bookstores. I do not consider physical exercise downtime, to me that’s work. So, if I go swimming or something like that, I consider that to be work. Downtime is when I do not have anything pressing to do.

What process do you use to generate great ideas?

Usually my ideas come to me when I take a shower, have a bath or go for a walk. They may also come while I’m reading some textbooks. Some ideas are deep inside your unconscious so you have to dig around and do other things to distract yourself.

What’s your favourite quotation and why?

“I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music,” by George Eliot because I think that it’s true.

How do you define success?

I don’t know, but I think it has something to do with balance I’m sure. It’s a feeling that you’re able to accomplish some of the goals that you’ve set for yourself. It makes it easier when you set one goal, achieve it and go on to another.

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

Education, education, education! My field requires a lot of training and education so you have to stay in school. If I had to do it again I probably would have gone to Europe rather than stay in one place to be educated. I also took in as much cultural events that I could.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

Know your stuff, know as much as you can. You’ll never know everything but choose an area of study, and learn everything you can about it from people, books, YouTube, travel, whatever it is.

If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?

1. I would choose Jesus and I would ask him many things and find out if he really said and meant certain things. I would also want to talk to him about the modern era and the Christian ethic. Of course he didn’t know that he was a Christian, which I think is quite funny.
2. I would have loved to have met Emma Albani a Canadian opera singer who died about 1909. She was the first Canadian singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera. She was also an amazing singer.
3. I would like to meet Madonna and talk to her about her work ethic and artistic trajectory and how she feels about aging.
4. Pope John XXIII, the guy who started the Vatican is someone that I’d also like to meet
5. I’d like to meet Christian Amanpour a French journalist for CNN who does a lot of reporting, and has written a lot of books. She’s a very interesting and thoughtful woman.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

1. I would take the Art of Loving by Erich Fromm
2. Collective Works of Freud
3. Twelfth Night by Shakespeare
4. Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
5. Too Much Happiness, Alice Munro

What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?

I would probably like to have a CD like Bach Magnificat, and Supreme Order. I would like to fit as much Bach as I could on a CD because when I listen to Bach I feel very grounded and like the world is right.

The Best Feast, which is a movie about a woman who was a major chef. It’s about 1850s and she had to leave Paris because her husband was in a military coup. She ended up in Denmark in this little village that was filled with a lot of dark Christian people, Lutheran reformed types. She had always lived a beautiful life and these people lived a spiritual life, but was so closed. She transformed the whole village eventually by cooking for them.

What excites you about life?

Life itself

How do you nurture your soul?

Through music, my church and my community.

If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for? Or, if I gave you a magic wand, what would you use it for?

I have no idea. Superficially I would wish that everyone has sufficient monetary resources to live a satisfying life.

Complete the following, I am happy when…..

When the weather is nice and I can go walking with my dog in the mornings, when my family is not in crisis, when I have some very interesting engagements coming up and when I’m able to read a good book.

What did you find surprising? Which part of the interview moved you deeply? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Related posts:

1. The Invisible Mentor Interviews Mary Lou Fallis
2. The Invisible Mentor Interviews Lois Fallis Part Two
3. The Invisible Mentor Interviews Gina McAdam Part 2
4. The Invisible Mentor Interviews John Kremer Part II
5. The Invisible Mentor Interviews Diane Danielson Part II

George Eliot an English novelist said, “It’s never too late to be who you might have been.” As you do your planning for  2010 remember that quote, and make sure that you’re living the life you were meant to live, and not the life that others expect you to live. NO EXCUSES, you’re not too old, or too young, or under-qualified, or over-qualified and so on and so on. This is your life, not a dress rehearsal.

Interesting Tidbit

George Eliot is the pen name for Mary Anne Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880).

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