Over and over and over again

Next time you feel that you're not being productive, that your day amounts to nothing more than an exercise in wheel-spinning, take heed from some lovely words in Chris Arthur's recently published essay collection, "On the Shoreline of Knowledge: Irish Wanderings" (Sightline Books/University of Iowa Press).

Success is measured in linear terms in our society. If you're not moving from point A to point B, you're not succeeding, right? It's an unfortunate situations.  And it makes Arthur, whose home is Fife, Scotland (lucky guy), start thinking of his stoop-shouldered mother. At trying moments in her life, she mutters "I'm just going round in circles," despairing that:

"...her energy has been frittered away on a treadmill of trivial distractions that have claimed more time than they warrant. She's annoyed at her own lack of focus, the way she's allowed herself to become mired in unimportant chores."

Sound familiar?  (An old professor of mine, British poet Geoffrey Hill, had a really grandiose way of referring to this situation: He'd say "we're all trapped on a carnal treadmill." Pretty fancy, but then again, he's a poet.)

But Arthur's book of ruminative essays is an effort to recall the virtues of repetition and aims at restoring the dignity of that much-maligned geometric figure, the circle:

"The circle is variously taken to represent enlightenment, clear seeing, the absolute, one-pointedness of concentration, the universe.... Instead of impatience with some treadmill of time-wasting chores, instead of any kind of frustrated vacuity, a sense of pointless repetition and being stalled, think rather of the great wheel of the seasons, the orbits of electrons and planets; think of life cycles, the circulation of our blood and breath and the water that sustains us. We are cradled in a myriad of circles."

He then offers up the Zen practice of enso, the practice of painting circles of black ink. Beautiful.

Try not to be frustrated (though it's difficult - take it from me). You're exactly where you're supposed to be. Maybe the wheel-spinning is trying to tell you something?

Robert and Kate ... the Great

For the West, Russia has always been a birthplace of myth and legend.  Its customs and history make it seem to travelers as strange as Mars.

But for Robert K. Massie, Russia isn’t so alien – especially when he considers the life of the 18^th century German princess who ruled it.

“It is a remarkable story. There is so much there that is instructive for us, and our politicians,” he said Monday night to a large audience at Claremont McKenna College.

Massie was there to discuss his most recent work, a bestselling biographical history of Catherine the Great published by Random House.  Massie delivered his remarks as Ricardo J. Quinones Lecturer, a post that’s part of the school's powerhouse humanities centerpiece, the Family of Benjamin Z. Gould Center for Humanistic Studies.

Massie himself is a powerhouse -- animated, vigorous ... is this fellow really in his 80s?

"C'mon, I expected some protests over my views," he quipped at one point, surprised that the audience didn't take him to task for praising Catherine's modernizing tendencies though she allowed serfdom to continue. On the other hand, he added, "we can't get on a moral high horse in this country" because of the long, shameful history of slavery in the U.S.

When you look at bestsellers lists today, it seems like only political rants or novels about teens in dystopian worlds or teens with supernatural powers and good looks are truly popular (by market standards, at any rate).  Peer closer, however, and you’ll also find Massie’s name on the paperback bestsellers lists (his "Catherine" is now out in paper from Vintage) – it’s an encouraging sign that a serious, old-school historian still commands the attention of the reading public.

But success always comes with a cost. In Massie’s case, though he’s been affiliated with various universities, he’s a free agent as a historian -- and he alluded to the difficulties of this choice in his own life.

“The life of a freelance historian is tumultuous,” he said, with a smile as he neared the end. “It’s a life of ups and downs, and mostly downs.”

(And this coming from a guy who’s sold millions of books and had several of his titles turned into movies.)