Get One; Be One: Mentors as Momentous and Monumental

Another of the many fine articles written by the late Dr. Charles Reichel:


Several weekends ago, I had the privilege of purchasing two, "just-published" books of poetry. Both of these books were written by inspiring friends whose lives had intersected my own. One of these friends is an age-mate of mine; the other is a generation older. While each of these lives had energized mine, I had not known that the lives and creative energies of these two authors had also touched.

I was, therefore, surprised-to-a-smile, to see, on the Sunday that I talked with my age-mate author, that he had inscribed a dedication to the other, older author in his book. The inscription referred to her as “a poet, teacher, friend, inspiration”.

The teachers and poets and "inspirers" of our lives most typically do not intend for such inscriptions to be written in their honor. They never viewed us as stone markers standing still in a cemetery upon which they would engrave their names. Yet, still, their airbrushes of inspirations have marked our hearts and cleaned our arteries. Somehow their time and touches removed stones and blockages. They helped our life-energies to flow again. Their inspirational breathings were sufficient to fill, at least, the jib sails of our becalmed and drifting ships. We sense that we came into stronger currents and favorable winds because of them!

It is usually only in other, later moments of our lives, and with a backward and reflective look at the roles these people played in them, that we can place our small tributes--or monumental inscriptions-- in thanks to them. In fact, most of us older folks can think of someone we should phone or e-mail with, at least, a small tribute right now. Go ahead, I’ll wait for you to return…!

The first two issues of this newsletter have been written to address family support and challenges. (They can be found archived at www.nationalcreativesociety.com through our portal site.) In our families we first learned about the hues, and shadows, of differing personalities. It was there, for reasons of celebration and solace, we learned first to hum our heart songs. Our families were primary and provided our first words, definitions and perspectives; but, not our final ones. The family was absolutely vital; but, not absolutely all!

Realistically and thankfully, as each family has limits in supplying and sharing nurture to the lives first entrusted to it, there are “back-up” relief structures and “bull-pen” people provided to our lives!

All of us know that the current societal and cultural shapes of family structures vary greatly. No matter, whether the geometry of our own family structure seems more or less stable, in all of our cases, it must be propped and supported by others.

Sometimes these support people are simply called “extended family.” Often, and for many life situations, they are trusted and expert friends called “mentors”. In recent years, the term “life-coaches” has become popular.

Several years ago, in my own teaching and writing, I coined my own term: “hodogete”. As a counselor specializing in career direction, I became aware that the word “career” comes from the French word for “path.” I am very certain our career “path” is walked from birth to death. It does not begin with choosing a job or profession. However, we do need “journey guides” to help us discern our unique directions. I coined my new term from the Greek word for “road” combined with the Greek word for “finding meaning.”

In the next articles to come, I will explore how being a mentor is revitalizing for those of us in more mature life-stages. Equally, I will explore how vital it is, to those maturing as young, creative artists to have a "hodogete" and how best to find one! I offer this for your consideration—to “get one” or “be one”--or both.

Creatively and Carefully,
Charles E. Reichel