Special Bulletin

About the Author

Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, .and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, yoga, writing, the environment, happiness, self improvement, and weight loss.  Take his cheap course on the basics of search engine optimization at http://www.donovanbaldwin.com/ebooks/search_engine_optimization.html

Let me begin by admitting that I am as guilty as anyone of fostering what I refer to as the “Myth of the Fragmented Man”. Second, since our language hasn’t as yet acquired a means other than the word “man” of speaking of us humans as a collective, I am using the word in that manner. What I am trying to say is that I am talking about all of us, not just the male of the species.

So where did I get my idea of the “Myth of the Fragmented Man”?

Well, the concept was rattling around my brain for years. I had discussed it with my wife and with others, but never quite got a handle on what to say about it or how to present it. Then one day, we moved, packed up a bunch of our books, and then unpacked them at the new house. As I pulled one old second hand book out of a box, I remembered having read something in it years ago that had interested me, so I tossed it on the floor beside the bed. That night, as I lay in bed reading, I encountered this comment:

“Although parts and processes may be isolated for analytical purposes, they cannot be understood without reference to the dynamic unified whole that is more than their sum. To say, for example, that man is made up of certain elements is a satisfactory description only for those who intend to use him as fertilizer.”

Taken from “Perspectives in Human Development - Nursing Throughout The Life Cycle” by Doris Cook Sutterly, RN, MSN, and Gloria Ferraro Donnelly, RN MSN. Published by J. P. LIppincott Company, 1973.

For years, you and I have seen a huge growth in books, magazines, products, and now websites, which purport to have the answer to one problem or another. Spend a few moments browsing the Internet, or stand in any supermarket checkout line, and you will be bombarded by headlines proclaiming that “this product”, “that exercise”, “these six steps” will lead to fame, fitness, weight loss, weight gain, bigger bosoms, smaller bosoms, better sex, stopping smoking, wealth…and so on.

Pick any subject, and it seems that you can find vast numbers of “experts”, including myself, who offer their “catch of the day” to solve some problem which besets humanity. However, all these offerings have one fatal flaw. Either the writer, the reader, or both have fallen into the trap which I have referred to as “The Myth Of The Fragmented Man”.

As unfortunate as this is, however, it is a fact that in many ways it is difficult to escape the trap. Most readers of popular writing will lack either the time, the inclination, the training, the education, the experience, and the dedication required to lay out all the pieces of the particular puzzle they are interested in and then put them in their proper places. Those who publish these bits of information realize this and therefore are generally interested in short offerings which, as a result, either briefly tackle one aspect of a problem, or solution, or provide a longer list of generalities which can be very briefly summed up. The writers, such as myself, know that they are limited to lengths of between about 500 and 1500 words or so, and, realizing that they can only cover one topic, and get the public and the publisher interested in one topic, construct their articles and websites accordingly.

Subjects such as creating wealth, improving health, self-improvement, improving the world, or weight loss really need to include many guidelines structured for a diverse audience. What actually occurs is that short articles are written which tout one pill, one process, one activity, one point of view as being the pivot upon which all improvement depends.

To make matters worse, the audience itself seems to believe that each new individual idea is the solution to whatever is the problem of the moment. For example, cortisol is a natural hormone which has a genuine purpose in the healthy functioning of the human body. In our modern society, however, it often is forced into a position where its results are negative, and it CAN contribute to weight gain. This IS a fact. However, at least one company wishing to sell its weight loss product trumpets, that cortisol is a ?nasty little hormone? which creates fat around the stomach and hips. As stated earlier, cortisol CAN be a contributor to weight gain, but there are life styles which can easily counteract these negative aspects of this one hormone while allowing it to effectively do its assigned job.

The confusion in the reader of the advertising, of course, is that they are looking for the one “magic bullet” that defines weight gain and weight loss, when the truth is that they are made up of a huge interlaced network of physical activity, environment, heredity, diet, current physical and emotional health, time of the day, time of the month…the list goes on.

So, the next time you read about the importance of _______ (fill in the blank) on the subject of _______ (fill in the blank), be aware that you may only be seeing a portion of the fragmented man. We are in all ways part of a bigger construct than the manner in which one hormone is manufactured and used, one characteristic is raised or lowered, one step is taken or ignored. However, as the old proverb reminds us, taking that one step may be what starts us on a journey that can end we know not where.

I am not suggesting that we ignore any piece of data or information simply because it stands alone, illustrating only a fragment of the man or the puzzle. That piece may indeed be the one we were lacking to construct the whole. I am suggesting that each piece should be understood as being only a single, yet important brick in the structure of the whole, and, as such, should be treated with respect and with some degree of reservation until how it fits with other pieces of the puzzle becomes more clear to us.

If, however, we no longer wish to perpetuate the “Myth of the Fragmented Man”…or world, or universe, it is incumbent upon us to actively seek out the other fragments and learn how they join with others to create the whole.

About the Author

Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, yoga, writing, the environment, happiness, self improvement, and weight loss. You may view many of his most current articles at http://www.myspace.com/donovanbaldwin where he invites you to join his group of friends.

In 1941, against the backdrop of a world in turmoil, a new fictional character was introduced to the American public. A puny weakling in poor health but wishing to do his patriotic duty, Steve Rogers allowed himself to be injected with a serum intended to create a super soldier. Thus was born the hero in red, white, and blue…the shield wielding Captain America. Sadly, in the latest edition of his long-running comic, he is downed by a sniper’s shot. It’s sad when heroes die, especially if they are someone you have known since childhood.

Though no longer a comic book fan; I gave ‘em up about 47 years ago, simply remembering the old days of sitting in front of the comic book rack at Woodrow Moulton’s pharmacy in Warrington, Florida brings back so many other memories. The reference to Captain America, leads to the comic books…Superman, Batman, Ghostrider (the old cowboy one, not the flaming skull guy on the motorcycle), Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Lash LaRue, Tim Holt as Red Mask, and of course, Hopalong Cassidy and the Durango Kid.

It brings another memory as well. I remember when, a few years ago, my mother told me that Mr. Moulton (I never thought of him as anything but Mister Moulton…never Woodrow. He was too dignified a gentleman for that.) had been shot dead during a robbery on June 7, 1978 by one Marvin Edwin Johnson. She thought it had something to do with drugs although it might have simply been a robbery. Apparently the kind old pharmacist in his landmark pharmacy who had helped so many people over so many years tried to defend himself and his property. For this, he died.

You know, when my father and mother moved to Warrington, Florida, then a nearby community between Pensacola and the Naval air base, from Atlanta in 1945 right after I was born, they were happy to learn that they could buy the Sunday Atlanta Journal and Constitution at Mr. Moulton’s “Warrington Pharmacy”, and thus was born a ritual that lasted over three decades. After Mass on Sunday, there would be the trip to Warrington Pharmacy to pick up the Sunday Atlanta Journal and Constitution.

In fact, after I got my driver’s license, my first trip in my father’s car, on my own, was on a Sunday morning when he handed me the keys to his 1956 Chevy with the missing accelerator pedal (you had to step on the bar that would have been underneath the pedal) and told me to go get the paper. Backing the Chevvy out of the driveway and driving the two miles down and two miles back is something I still remember. Mr. Moulton was there and I wanted to brag about driving down by myself, but I sort of felt you just didn’t brag to Mr. Moulton. Not that he would put you down, he would have simply expected it as something that had been bound to come about.

It’s hard to believe Mr. Moulton’s dead.

Shortly after they started getting the paper every Sunday, my dad went in one Sunday and they had sold them out. Mr. Moulton heard about it and told my father that from that day on, he would order one extra paper and put it under the counter for him. For years, it was not uncommon for one of the ladies to see my dad coming in the door and sing out, “I’ve got your paper over here, Mr. Baldwin!”

When it was time to buy my mother’s birthday and Christmas gifts, I could count on Mr. Moulton or his staff of older ladies to steer me towards an inexpensive perfume, earrings, or fake strand of pearls. It wasn’t until years later that I learned that they often cut the price for “Mr. Baldwin’s boy” at a nod from Mr. Moulton.

What a great example of what a simple American citizen could be, and the influence he could have on the life of a youngster growing up in his community. What a sad thing that Mr. Moulton had to die because of someone else’s desire to escape from a life which could offer so much. However, from time to time, I find the mechanic, the clerk, the cop, or the teacher who shows a sense of value such as his and I feel that although Mr. Moulton is dead, his quiet example of another, less flashy, American hero and guardian can still be found.

This is a time in our nation’s history when heroes are plentiful. It’s just that they are dressed in camouflage and some don’t shave regularly yet…or don’t have to shave because they are female. They don’t always hit us between the eyes like Cap’s shield, but they are there though sometimes hard to find for all the rhetoric their heroism gets wrapped in. Sometimes it is hard to see them for the row of politicians standing in front of them claiming the glory or exonerating themselves from blame, but they are still there. Sometimes, if you look closely, you can see that many of them are a little confused at their own heroism. They just see it as doing what they were supposed to do.

What a concept!

You know something? Though Mr. Moulton and Captain America are dead, their spirits live on. They may be gone, but there are others with their spirit and attitude to take up the slack.

About the Author

Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, health and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, yoga, writing, the environment, happiness, self improvement, and weight loss.

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Bold As Brass

America has been continually blessed by great leaders who, in our times of need, uttered these immortal words that stirred men’s souls and set them free.  Oh, that it were so.
It is a popular piece of history, perpetuated by professional speech writers, that mere words, uttered in times of crisis, had the power to stiffen the American backbone long enough to change history.
Such is our legacy.  Seldom was it true.
Stirring words often fell flat at the time, got in the way, took up precious time, and did little.  It was only after the dust settled that the Gettysburg Address became a significant piece of our stirring history.  “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”  Those words are now immortal.  Millions of school children can repeat them verbatim.  How many of us can remember the names of even ten soldiers whose backbones were stiffened for that horrible, bloody battle, and which side did they fight on?
Thomas Jefferson has probably had more influence on subsequent American politics than any other man in our history.  When we think of the Declaration of Independence, we think of him.  Those words are so powerful they are carved in our hearts like epitaphs chiseled in stone.
How conveniently it is forgotten that the immortal Jefferson coached the French Revolutionists into producing the flowery French Constitution.  If mere words can turn the tides of men then a seasoned Jefferson should have been able to forge a new nation in France that was bigger and better than America, especially with Tom Paine’s common sense egging them on as well.  Instead of founding a powerful democracy, one little man with a swelled head, snatched it all away from them and blazed a new trail of bloody carnage all the way across Europe.
Pretty words do not cause the common man to stand firm or carry the spear to the battle’s front.  As Mark Twain murmured once, “In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, Brave, Hated, and Scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, For then it costs nothing to be a Patriot.”
As one woman said when she found the devil standing in front of her, “Secretly, I was on your side all the time.”
But when flowery words turn into legacy they are imbued with the power to fortify the human soul, not in the rewriting of history, but where it is far more important, the future.  When history is being written the issues are seldom that clear to the participants, but LEGACY is always right.  The legacy of the Revolution stood us in good stead in the War of 1812.  When the legacy of the War of 1812 was added to the legacy of the Revolution the combination was stronger.  Because of that legacy Daniel Webster could see the sacredness of the Constitution.  The legacy of being an American was easier to see and pattern the desires of our hearts after with each passing year.  Today we have legacies stacked up for two centuries.  We KNOW how brave an American should be and we KNOW what an American should be doing with that bravery.
I was in the Army when the Berlin Crisis erupted.  As soon as I decided “This Is It!” I demanded to be shipped to Germany.  The Berlin Crisis fizzled out before I got there, but soon enough there was another confrontation and every unit in Germany went on full battle alert and left our barracks behind to get out there on the battle line.
To my great satisfaction I was privileged to serve right up there on the front.  My most important duty was simple, almost meaningless but entailed my going from one small outpost to another.  Here would be one man standing alone, there a dozen, and I am proud to say those soldiers isolated right there on the front, were even more anxious for the Russians to show up than I was.  Any time a motor turned over they poised for combat and looked for Russian tanks to come streaming our way.  This was dead of winter time when hearts tend to shrivel up anyway, but once I heard a plane come over us low and I glanced up to study its insignia.  When I glanced back around me there were soldiers on the snow, in their underwear but with their rifles ready.
I cannot believe that any amount of ignorant sneering or intellectual condemnation has killed that legacy.  Give our armed forces leaders steeped in American tradition and give them an excuse for action and the youth of our day will respond just as readily as those did in Audie Murphy’s day.
America needs its legacy if its greatness is to continue.  Cast the sneers behind our backs and throw the “realism” of Hollywood back into the Fallopian tubes of misery from whence it came.  Legacy, give us Legacy, else we die.