Just do it!

This week's chapter is called "The Black Gate is Closed."  Our heroes have arrived at the gate of Mordor!  But it is a extremely dangerous place.  Not only is it heavily guarded, but troops rallying to Sauron are marching through and being let in.  This would be a dangerous place to stage an attack - it seems hopeless for anyone trying to sneak by.  But Frodo stays true to his task.

When he tells Smeagol he intends to enter, Smeagol begs him not to.  Frodo insists he must.  Smeagol (Who doesn't know why Frodo is going) says if Frodo must go to Mordor, maybe he could give the Ring to Smeagol first.  Nevertheless, Frodo persists.

Smeagol then reveals he knows another way into Mordor, not one so obvious.  When pressed why he hadn't mentioned it before, Smeagol says he would have if anyone had told him the goal was to enter Mordor.  But Frodo had said to bring him to the gate, and nothing more.  A bit pedantic, but if Smeagol is as obsessed with the Ring as we're led to believe it isn't unimaginable he didn't consider why they'd want to go to the gate.

No matter.  Smeagol says another way exists, a staircase built into the southern border of Mordor which he found.  Sam, of course, is unsure, but Frodo says,

`Sméagol, I will trust you once more. lndeed it seems that I must do so, and that it is

my fate to receive help from you, where I least looked for it, and your fate to help me

whom you long pursued with evil purpose. So far you have deserved well of me and have kept

your promise truly. Truly, I say and mean,' he added with a glance at Sam, 'for twice now we

have been in your power, and you have done no harm to us. Nor have you tried to take from me

what you once sought. May the third time prove the best! But I warn you, Sméagol, you are in danger.'

`Yes, yes, master! ' said Gollum. `Dreadful danger! Sméagol's bones 

shake to think of it. but he doesn't run away. He must help nice master.'

'I did not mean the danger that we all share,' said Frodo. 'I mean a danger to

yourself alone. You swore a promise by what you call the Precious. Remember that! It will

hold you to it; but it will seek a way to twist it to your own undoing. Already you are

being twisted. You revealed yourself to me just now, foolishly. Give it back to Sméagol you said.

Do not say that again! Do not let that thought grow in you! You will never get it back.

But the desire of it may betray you to a bitter end. You will never get it back.

In the last need, Sméagol, I should put on the Precious; and the Precious mastered you long ago.

If I, wearing it, were to command you, you would obey, even if it were to leap from a

precipice or to cast yourself into the fire. And such would be my command. So have a care, Sméagol!

In this book we are seeing Frodo in a new light.  Throughout Fellowship he remained a reluctant adventurer - slowly learning the true danger of his Quest.  While Frodo never wanted this Quest, and perhaps lacked the characteristics of an adventurer, he has since developed them.  But with this knowledge Frodo grows a sense of responsibility.  He is still reluctant, in the sense he doesn't relish the Quest, but he is committed to its completion.  Frodo will go to Mount Doom.  Nothing can stop him.

Many times in our lives we grow into our responsibilities.  While "Dress for the job you want" and "Fake it till you make it" are great pieces of advice, it requires a bit of foresight.  You have to know the job you want.  To fake it, you need to know what you should be imitating.  These sort of things aren't always possible.  They also focus on the future, not on the present.

In September 2010 I moved to Alaska, where I knew no one.  Well, I knew two people - in the most literal sense: my employer and my roommate.  By the time I left Alaska almost 2 years later I had a significant network of friends and colleagues that I still keep in touch with.

While I've always consider myself friendly, I had never needed to use my friendliness.  I made friends in school and in college the same as everyone else - social osmosis.  But in Alaska I really needed to make friends.  I needed to reach out.  My roommate was kind enough to bring me into her circle of friends.  I also called the number on a posting at the local gaming store for a game group.  They warmly welcomed me in.  If you had asked me before I moved how to make new friends I wouldn't have had any idea how.  Now I know:

• Go to events that interest you, you will meet like-minded people there.
• Friendship is different than shared interest, so talk to as many people there until you find some people where things really click.
• Friendship is based on shared experiences more than shared interest.  Keep going to these events and be a participant.
• Be patient.  It will take longer than you want to go from acquaintance to familiar face to friend.
• A bit of good luck (I cannot imagine how I would have fared in Alaska if I hadn't gotten the roommate I ended up, whom I happened to meet through Craigslist).

Nothing helps us in solving problems as much as need.  "Necessity is the mother of invention" applies to all cases.  If you are facing a situation, and you don't know how best to address it, it is likely possible that the best thing to do is to force yourself to deal with it.  The ability to delay can be detrimental.

Before I moved to Alaska I lived in Gloucester, and I was miserable.  I had a hard time making friends, but I didn't have much motivation - Boston wasn't that far away.  But my friends didn't like making the drive up to me, and I didn't always want to make the drive down to see them.  I split my attention between new friends and old friends, and the result was misery.  Throwing myself to the other side of the country solved my problem by forcing me to face it, with no other recourse.

Frodo is still Frodo - he is still reluctant and trusting and hates to endanger his friends.  To grow we do not need to change who we are.  But we need to be willing to respond to the needs of the moment.  Books and classes and tutorials are important ways to learn, but experience teaches like nothing else.

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