I'm honored and touched by this

I just got a ‘mentorship’ award from Down Under friend Meggie, of Life's Free Treats. I was touched. I’ve always wanted to be a mentor. I’ve always hoped that some people in my life might have put me in a mentorship role. But, nobody has ever specifically asked me to assume the position. I mean the 'mentorship' position, of course.

But, we don’t always tell our mentors of the role they play. In Greek mythology, Mentor was Odysseus’s trusted counsellor, and the name has become ever since the term applied to a wise man or woman in whom we not only place our trust, but who provides a model for our behavior as we go through life.

Fortunate are those who see a mentor in a parent, but I was not one of those. I did have one teacher in my last year of high school upon whom I entrusted that role, though I never told him. But, for a few years I modelled my life upon his and, as he was, I became a teacher of senior history and English.

So, I was a teacher. Did anybody regard me as a mentor? I truly have no idea, nor do I lie awake nights worrying about it. But, it would still be nice to think that maybe I had filled some sort of void in somebody’s life. I once had a parent say to me: “You know, for years I tried to suggest certain books to my son. He came home the other day and wondered if we had Brave New World. He said that ‘Mr. Lidster’ suggested he might like it, so he was all excited about it. I pointed out that I had suggested the same book to him for ages, but to no avail.”

But, I don’t know how much influence I had on that kid, after all, since he became a jazz musician instead of a Huxley scholar. That’s OK. I actually like jazz better than Huxley, too.

Anyway, part of the obligation in having been given this award by Meggie is that I am to pass it on to five other people. Therefore, in keeping with the spirit of the award, I want to give it those I see in a mentorship role for either me or others. This is a difficult one – and hellishly arbitrary because the moment I think of somebody, then I immediately think of somebody else who would qualify equally well depending on what I picked up from that person on any given day; so I hate making up such lists, but I’ll play by the rules -- and I will describe those people in terms of what I have learned from them:

Cs at A Little Off Kilter has been a blogging contact almost from the beginning. I like her very much because she has a virtual black-belt in honesty and candor, and I admire that very much in a world filled with sham and ass-kissing. Also, I find mentorship in her because she’s tough. I like tough.

Jazz at Haphazard Life is my soul sister and we share many views on the cant and hypocrisy that abounds around us. As a fellow Canadian, she also relates directly or indirectly to a lot of the issues north of the 49th Parallel and knows how utterly wacky this country really is. And she hates politicians. I have to love somebody who hates politicians.

Dumdad at The Other Side of Paris because he is a contemporary and a fellow scribe, and because his experience in the ink-stained-wretch field vastly exceeds my own and he has personally known people of whom I sit in either awe and reverence or contempt. Point being, he has known them, I haven’t other than by their musings. I know Dumdad doesn’t send these things on, and I respect him for that, too. But, here it is.

Ellee at Proactive PR. Wise and eclectic and who also happens to think in a very similar manner to the way I do, especially on a lot of political issues. Ellee is intelligent, connected, and terribly bright, and she also keeps me apprised of what is happening in the UK at any given time.

Jody at A Closer Look. I have known Jody in one way or another virtually forever and I sit in awe at her guts as a journalist. Even though she once was – decades ago – a student of mine, she became a hard-hitting journalist who was never afraid to take on any challenge, regardless of how unsavoury another might have found it. I doff my hat to Jody and certainly see her in a mentorship role for me.

And there you have it. Immediately five, ten or 25 more people came to mind, but the rules are the rules.

So, now that I am a mentor, should I dress and act differently? I do have my old mortarboard and graduation robes still, maybe I should affect them. Maybe get ould my old tweed-jacket with patches on the sleeves, and take up pipe smoking? Those all seem to go with mentorship.

Oh, and wisdom. I believe wisdom is part of the baggage of a mentor, so suppose it's now time to become self-impressed with my presumed intellectuality.