Ok, this is a little eerie. Just a few hours after writing the previous post, I found myself on the exercise bike watching an old TV interview with Bruce Springsteen. (For me, that's as riveting as any Sopranos episode.) I was startled when Bruce came out with this:
"I wasn't quite suited for the educational system. One problem with the way the educational system is set up is that it only recognizes a certain type of intelligence, and it's incredibly restrictive -- very, very restrictive. There's so many types of intelligence, and people who would be at their best outside of that structure [get lost]. Most of the schools, they're aiming to build you up and get you into the machine."
(He goes on to say a lot about what drove him early on, and what fueled his drive to become better and better and better at what he does. All very relevent to this project. I'll draw on those statements another time.)
Am I so utterly obsessed with Springsteen that when I heard him talk fleetingly about this stuff several years ago, I unconsciously decided to write a book about it, then followed through on that promise years later and -- on the precise day that I was exploring this one particular facet -- somehow unconsciously prodded myself to rummage through my old VHS tapes for the old interview so I could again stumble upon these words? If you know me and my family, you're nodding yes.
