What George Believed
The Social Media Question
Character is the only thing that matters. That’s what George believed.
This particular George is my paternal grandfather and namesake. He was George Martin, and I’m Matt George Martin. I wear that badge very proudly and I carry his name as if my first and middle are curiously hyphenated.
Matt George - pleasure to meet you, I say.
I imagine him chuckling at the thought.
“That’s right ol’ Matt boy.”
In March I was able to spend a few quiet moments in his study - tucked neatly in the south-east corner of our family home on the far-east coast of Newfoundland. I was there to explore what’s in the water on Newfoundland at the minute. There seems to be a modern start-up renaissance of sorts and, if I had to guess, we’re underselling the story.
PSA: If you’re the rambling kind, I don’t recommend Newfoundland in March unless you’re made of tough stuff.
The walls of his study, although George isn’t there anymore, are still lined with his books and old journals. I have clear memories of him sitting in his chair jotting down the business of the day in his diary. Weather. Who called or dropped by. Letters written and principles used. Always short, but always consistent.
As as kid I loved exploring that study and it’s hidden treasure. In fact, I spent a lot of time, in my early years, as a rather strange child digging for treasure of all sorts. It wasn’t until after he died that I realized he marks up the margins of his books the same way I do. The only difference is the former used red pen, and the latter, black. Perhaps that is where I subconsciously picked up the habit for marginalia.
George loved reading biography. Auto, if possible. Generic if he must. Especially those of great leaders. Mandela was a personal favourite and the red pen in the margins of Long Walk to Freedom was frequent and fervent. He encouraged us to do the same - to learn about the world, and it’s people. To be deeply curious and to question authority.
As a believer (the Christian third of the Abrahamic triad), George was humoured by serendipity. Not because he believed coincidence was random, but because he saw very clearly a greater force at work.
It was in that spirit of coincidence and confluence that I found myself, after his death, sitting with Nelson Mandela’s great grandson in Toronto. We talked about legacy. We talked about leadership. We talked about how times change, reverse course, and then change some more.
Unbeknownst to Siyabulela, I had packed the very book that was written by his elder, and marked up in red by mine. He penned a short note to George in the back cover, wishing him well in the great beyond. I later returned that book to the study, on the south-east coast of Newfoundland, where it belonged.
The circle was closed. I know he would have done the same.
I know that because it was very easy to know what George believed. He lived it. Everyone knew what George believed, and if you didn’t know before you met him, you knew soon after.
“Wherever you go, spread the Gospel. When absolutely necessary, use words.”
- St. Francis of Assisi (taken from A Lion Trackers Guide to Life)
TL;DR: Character is the only thing that matters. There is great dignity in meaningful work. When you come of age, it’s time to contribute. Stand on what you stand for. Contribute in whatever way you can. Avoid zealotry. Strive for balance. The highest good is combining your natural gifts and early inclinations in service of others.
I. Character and Meaningful Work
My mentor and I almost started a business during the pandemic. We believed we identified an interesting problem, started talking to potential customers, began onboarding the two people we’d most like to start a business with, and set about discussing share structure (the former is the only thing that matters but the other stuff is fun too).
It was called PodCapsule. The idea was to preserve the ideas and biography of our elders in audio format. A podcast from the grave, so to speak. A modern time capsule.
We didn’t pursue it, but others did, rather successfully. Storyworth is probably the best example, although they chose a more traditional preservation medium.
In hindsight my motivation for starting PodCapsule was a selfish one. I was solving my own problem. Scratching my own itch. What I wanted was to find a way to preserve what George believed. To be able to access it when I needed it - using it as some kind of invisible force, guiding me through decisions that required sound judgement and a steady hand.
Entrepreneurship comes naturally to me. The disdain for rules and regulation and the desire to move fast and be creative. I don’t always have the details figured out - in fact I rarely do - but I almost always understand the principle and I take action toward fulfilling that principle.
That includes making mistakes publicly - such is the life of those who try things.
In a roundabout way, it came naturally to George Martin too. If there was meaningful work that needed doing, best get to doing it. That’s what George would say.
Work was for him, in almost every way, {a vehicle for meaning and purpose}. For expressing your values, to the community, through energy and effort. George was the local high-school Principal, a fierce volunteer, and frequently wrote Letters to the Editor - weighing in on things like *cough* the power plant at Muskrat Falls.
For George, it was a life-long exercise in curiosity and character. The combination, and expression, of both brains and backbone. To be engaged with the world and to be an active player in a much larger drama.
In American Values RFK Jr., describes his grandfather Joe Kennedy as a thoughtful, committed patriarch who tried to steward his family in much the same way that George was the captain of ours.
“Grandpa was just over six feet tall, and I remember him always smiling…He was gentle and affectionate, and loved to tell stories…” - RFK Jr.
At the same time he took himself seriously and had a daily rigor that made his ethics widely known and obvious to us.
“Grandpa had a fierce sense of family, taking great interest in all his children’s activities and encouraging their engagement with the world.” -RFK Jr.
George believed that combining your natural gifts with your early inclinations, in pursuit of something that serves others was the highest good. He believed in people and he loved seeing them succeed - even (perhaps especially) when they had wronged him.
“Grandpa believed in hard work, despised shams, and loved the truth. He stood up for the underdog and believed in giving people a second chance.” -RFK Jr.
That confidence breeds a unique combination of love and respect. George, like Joe Kennedy, was confined to a wheelchair in his last days and I vividly remember a line of people waiting to get down on one knee and speak to him in his last public appearance. Perhaps to thank him for the small things that he did to influence them on their own path to wherever they were going.
“He was a powerful figure who commanded both respect and love.” -RFK Jr.
II. The Anonymity Question and Standing on Value (Social Media)
Pursuing the highest good means working in public - being willing to speak on and ultimately identify the things you stand for - while avoiding the temptation of zealotry.
To George, standing on value didn’t mean assuming you were somehow superior to those around you. Collaboration is essential - we have no way around each other, although we seem hell-bent on trying.
“It’s alright to struggle to get ahead..by good works, by good reputation, and by hard work, but it certainly isn’t by doing things that people could say, ‘Who the hell does he think he is?"‘“ -RFK Jr.
I often wonder what he would think of the social media era. When the temperature is too high, and attention spans are short. When we don’t default to trust, but suspicion. When we obsess over our well-being, spending more money on pilates and potions than any generation before, but are somehow more unwell than we’ve ever been. When we’ve abandoned long-form, in favour of 10 second clips, forgetting that long-form is forever.
Social has been a constant {source of stress} for me. Minor stress. I don’t lose sleep over it. But it picks away at me like black flies on a fishing creek. Small in the scheme of things, but very present and surprisingly frustrating.
I ebb and flow between two diametrically opposed poles of zealotry - the very thing George would tell me to avoid. I want to banish myself from the social kingdom altogether one day, and crave the creative collaboration of my peers the next. I delete accounts and somehow un-delete them like a sheep changes its wool with the seasons.
Zealotry, it turns out, is a young mans game and I am beginning to creep toward not-young. It’s a young mans game because its tiresome. Tiresome to others and tiresome to ourselves. It takes too much energy. It sucks it up like a vacuum. People get sick of hearing it. It’s out of balance.
If you’re suffering from the same curious compulsion, here are 5 principles George might offer on the social media question:
Avoid zealotry. Don’t be overly demonstrative about how noble you are for not being on it. Don’t over-share, risking your reputation with yourself.
Don’t strive for the attention and validation of strangers. If you post it - it better be because it’s true and because it’s yours.
Find a small number of platforms that allow you to express yourself in ways that are unique to you. You can’t be everywhere, and you can’t be everything to everyone.
Don’t be a mindless consumer without being a thoughtful producer. If you’re at the party, speak up dammit.
Little red hearts are meaningless. Call your mom.
Next time, asking good questions and why that changes everything.
“We pray for plenty of good hard work to do, and the strength to do it.”
- Harris family prayer
See you on the path.
-MG
Matt- This was such a fun and heartwarming read enriched by reconstructed anecdotes and significant memories of a kin. What could be more important! I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.
Thanks for including my Italy photo Matt!