When I was child, playtime was definitely my favourite lesson, and there was nothing worse than getting caught short, ruining my fun and frolics in the yard, before the bell would ring, to restart my more formal and much more boring education.
Running into the old brick toilets at St. Mary’s RC Primary school, I would drain my maggot against the urinal wall and then rush back out to the yard.
More often than not, in my haste I would forget to pull my zip up fully, as I charged like raging bull, back out for one last game of What time is it Mr Wolf? or Tiggy!
My ever observant classmates of course, would spot my technical error and I would receive a chorus of…
With the above in mind, this post is about the famous story of Icarus, and a part of the original story, that the establishment deliberately forgot to tell us all…
Are u all sitting comfortably children… No talking and legs crossed… Let us begin…
The story of Icarus... a brief recap of what you have probably heard.. with a generous sprinkling of utter nonsense to sex it up….
In the famous story from Greek mythology, Daedalus, Icarus’ father fashioned 2 pairs of wings made from feathers and wax, so they could escape Crete from the clutches of King Miras, who had imprisoned them.
What everyone tends to remember from the story is that Daedalus gave Icarus a specific piece of advice….
‘Don’t fly too close to the sun…. because we ain’t got any factor 50 sun screen and your brand new Gucci sliders might fall off!’
Following this advice, Icarus takes flight and with his hubris getting the better of him, he ignores the advice, flying increasingly higher and higher. He eventually flies too close the sun, melting the wax on his wings, and he crashes to his death in an Asda car park…. Yes, it’s a truly belting ending!
The whereabouts of who took his Gucci sliders remains a mystery to this day, but everytime you see someone in a pair, it may well be them!
This is where it gets interesting. In the original story, Daedalus actually gave Icarus 2 pieces of advice, prior to his first, and sadly only solo flight…
- Don’t fly to high and close to the sun as it will melt the wax on your wings
- Don’t fly too low and close to the sea as the dampness will weigh down your wings
In both cases he is toast, so why do we only seem to remember the part about the sun then?
Let’s revisit school from the start of the post to help fathom out why?
There is increasing evidence that over 100 years ago, school was instigated by the powers that be, to drive the cogs of the industrial revolution…
Think about it, from the age of 4 to 16, you were placed behind a desk, forced into a specific controlled routine, where you were told what to do, rewarded for your compliance and punished severely for the breaking of any rules…
School therefore, was simply a training ground to condition the general population to work in factories, heavy industry or offices, driving the capitalist machine. From 1947 – 1963, National service was even introduced, to further make civvy street look like a ticket to Disneyland.
Work 40 hours a week for 40 years for 4 weeks holiday a year, and get a gold carriage clock, before a few years of retirement and a wooden box… That was the deal!
Here is the great news…
In today’s connected world with a £100, a laptop and a costa coffee, you can set up your own business and literally make a living connecting your passion, to like minded individuals.. and it is only gonna get crazier…
The classroom mentality is dead, and businesses that rate individuals by their ability to sit still, not fidget, be first in and last out the gates, and copy from the company blackboard, will be deader than a fish smelling of sarson’s vinegar within the next few years.
In conclusion to this post, here is my view on the riddle of what altitude to fly at…
- The world is changing so fast, you do not need to get caught in the trap of flying high or flying low! You are not a character from a Charles Dickens novel!
- Definitely do not fly low… You’re letting yourself down. Show some grit and push yourself out of that comfort zone!
- The world is moving so fast there is absolutely no way you will fly too close to the sun, the limit of your capability, will always be outstripped by the speed of progress!
- Your strategy should be to consistently make progress, in whatever part of your life you choose.
Here’s a visual to MC Hammer home…
If you want to research Icarus more Google the amazing Seth Godin who has written a book on it… The Icarus Deception.
Now fly my little birds…
