No man is an island,Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
A tor linguistically is a hill or rocky peak but for this post I coined a different meaning to it as you will see as you read on. The world has lost a lot of TORs to date and hence we are more diminished than before according to John. What is a TOR? Well below are a few.
AdvocaTOR - someone who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy. Lord Slynn - peace and justice, Lauren Bacall - optimism and positivity and Maya Angelou - tolerance, equality and peace.
AncesTOR - everyone has ancestors from whom one descended, the forebearers. We are the mark they left behind, albeit a diluted version of them.
InvenTOR - a person who invents a process or device. The list of inventors is endless with many sadly being late. I was not aware that paper was invented by a Chinese person Cai Lun, (50–121 AD). Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors for a listing of invenTORs.
CommunicaTOR - someone skilled at conveying information, ideas, or public policy and probably the TOR that inspires us bloggers and writers the most. William Shakespeare is highly regarded as one of the greatest communicaTORs in the world with his influence still lingering on more than 400 years later. It is agreed that he could entertain, enrage or impart vast wisdom with a few words.
MenTOR - an experienced and trusted adviser who works alongside someone usually younger. Dr. Benjamin Mays, a distinguished African American minister and scholar, mentored Martin Luther King Jr. to become the icon he was.
OraTOR - a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Here names such as Winston Churchill and again Martin Luther King Jr. come to mind, as these were both great orators. Winston Churchill is known to have been a master of restraining emotion, while emphasizing argument and content.
I was not the least amused that Author is a THOR, but THOR still does good for mankind, does he not? There are all the TORs in our lives and I will add there are the good, the bad and the ugly, but I chose the good ones above. Those that form the frame of reference within us and make us who we are. The ones who have gone before or are walking alongside us in our journey. The ones we look up to or aspire to be like, or those that simple make the world a better place whether we know them or not. As John Donne said, whenever one of these die, we are all diminished in one way or another. Who are the TORs in your life, or are you being a TOR yourself? The question however that begs an answer is, are we birthing more TORs today than we are losing or have lost, or do we rely more on past TORs through their influence on us?
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Welli this is very thought provoking post. I find myself thinking of the TORS that have influenced my life and the TORS that have had a much broader reach..I fear that we have seeing less TORS these day, or even the cross TOR... Innovator who is also a mentor type of thing. Personally, I think the pace of life...the desperation to just keep up is standing in the way of advocacy etc. We have some shing examples, no doubt. But it'd be good to see more.
ReplyDeleteI believe so too Jacqui, about the desperation to keep up standing in the way. I also see the TORs as being diminished with time.
DeleteSometimes I am absolutely amazed by my grandchildren and can definitely see the possibility of TORS there but they will be different that what we have seen todate. They seem to be kinder and more accepting of racial and cultural differences and that can't help but be for the better.
ReplyDeleteLenie
The diluted TORs there Lenie? There is always an evolvement going on with the TORs but they do come out in their own way
DeleteThe question regarding whether or not we have more TOR's today than in the past can only be answered using speculation. That said though I would imagine that we have as many today as we have always had. We just tend to remember the really good ones longer...and the really really really bad ones. I have had a few good ones in my life and they have definitely shaped the way I view the world and the decisions I make.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Tim we do tend to remember the good one longer at the expense maybe of the current ones we may have.
DeleteWonderful! As a lover of language, I especially love the TORs who are TORch bearers. Sometimes these bearers of inspirational light are THORS too--gods of thunder to wake people up!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your delightful "For Whom the Bell TORs." :-) Most enjoyable.
I love the way you put it there Ramona. Starting with the TOR and clearly showing your love for language. Yes people need to be woken up at times. Thanks
DeleteVery thought provoking post. I look at my generation which are the baby boomers and feel that they were creators. They bought into existence a wave of entrepreneurs.With the increase of births in the US, there was a need for more infra structure. That is what happened in the US. Growth exploded as the baby boomers became creators.
ReplyDeleteSo we have a lot of creators coming out of the baby boomers Arleen, maybe most of them not that much celebrated you would say?
DeleteHi; I love this post. I even love your new word or new way of using it. I think we do have just as many tors today as always. I just think its easier to remember and appreciate the ones who came before us. I think you are a very skilled communicaTOR. I think I am becoming a good menTOR. keep up the good work my friend, max
ReplyDeleteThanks Max, and I agree with you that it is easier to remember in retrospect Thank you for the compliment and keep up with the mentoring.
DeleteNaturally, since I spent 30 years as one, I think of aviaTOR. Very interesting article. I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteHey there aviaTOR Beth. Yes you are definitely one of the TORs especially when your students reflect on how you shaped them. I am sure they view you in that way, as well as fellow colleagues in the industry.
DeleteGreat concept for a post to make a much larger point. We're a bit stuck in our consumer-driven society. The world could stand to create TORS, but it seems too many are set on being copycats.
ReplyDeleteHaha Jeri, that's an interesting twist, and do we have many of the copycats in all forms today. The ones who cannot be original at what they aim to do. It is all about selling more and the essence of originality is lost.
DeleteI think of a lot of TORs who have influenced me throughout my life, both personally and professionally. I hope someone thinks of me as one of theirs as well. But with regard to whether we are bringing more TORs in than we have lost, I can't answer that...but it seems that many times TORs gain their notoriety posthumously. Not all of course. So maybe we are in fact birthing more now...and we just don't know it yet. I think there will always be those TORs past, present and future.
ReplyDeleteI am positive that someone does see you as their TOR somewhere out there. Indeed we do tend to recognize TORs after they leave us, even though we have had them all along.
DeleteThis was a wonderful post Welli. Your use of TORs was delightful and very creative. For me, I see a need for us to create more TORS in this world,. However, way to often others find it easier to copy what others have done.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue, it seems to be getting harder and harder to become an original TORs as most feats have been achieved. But there is always room to become one.
Deletewell, sort of reminds one of Terms of reference, that is those who can indeed be our MenTORS and be the subtle compass for our behaviours. I presume an ideal setting is where, with time, we become TORs to others, having benefited from those before us, knowingly or not.
ReplyDeleteThere are many other TORs as well. One is TOR a free software for enabling online anonymity and resisting censorship. A lot of criminality takes place there.
ReplyDeleteTOR was also an ancient Nordic God.
If your interest in TOR was raised because of one of these two TORs, I sincerely hope it's the latter:-)
Always good to learn for my part Catarina, but the TORs you mention, I was oblivious to till now and they both did not have any bearing in my interest. At the risk of mentioning the obvious, John Donne raised my interest but with a rhyming twist in tolls to TORs.
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