The famous film director Alfred Hitchcock had a weird habit. He made brief, non-speaking appearances (known as cameos) in 40 of his own movies.
For instance, you can spot him missing a bus in North by Northwest, walking past a hotel in Psycho, or appearing in a neon skyline reflection in Rope.
Tradition has it that he started these quick appearances as an inside joke, and audiences soon made a game out of spotting him.
But what stuck with us was that he took an insignificant role in each film, even though he was the director.
This is like a conductor voluntarily giving up his place on the podium to become the person turning the pages of someone else’s sheet music.
Many world leaders have been capable of adopting this attitude, which is quite paradoxical for most people.
Harry Truman (the US president after World War II) put it into words better than anybody:
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”
His quote became one of our guiding principles in life.
It means that you can accomplish almost anything if you are less caught up in the great game of pride and shame. You can’t escape pride and shame (you’re human), but you can become aware of them and do the inner work to move beyond temporary thoughts of pride and shame.
Lore and Wisdom,
Monica and Stefan