Articles - Candace Doby

/22 May 2016

Courage and Freedom

Volition. It is the first of three core components* of the concept of courage, outlined by courage researcher Dan Putman. It means that an actor, by her own power and free will, decides for herself. She neither gets a cookie for doing what she is told to do nor a gold star for doing something out of fear of reprisal—no matter how difficult or risky a circumstance may be. Courage requires her to choose freely. And freedom requires her to be responsible for personal choice. In this way, courage and freedom are closely linked. But recognizing their connection is much...

/22 May 2016

My 92 Year Old Aunt Describes Courage

I sat on the edge of a plastic covered antique couch across from my great aunt. She slouched in a wingback chair that she obviously cared much less about preserving. It was a favorite spot in her living room, which had looked precisely the same for the past few decades except for the 42” flat screen TV both of us were watching. The Chew had gone to commercial break, so I decided to ask her a question. But not just any question—the question I frequently dropped on unsuspecting subjects at appropriately random moments. “Aunt Kathleen, what is courage?” She slowly...

/19 May 2016

Journey To Courage

It’s late, and I’m sitting Indian style on my tan leather sofa with a book draped across my lap. The Psychology of Courage. I retrieved it from the mailbox earlier in the day and opened it with the same mixture of excitement and anxiousness that I opened Publisher Clearinghouse envelopes as a kid. Only this time, I wasn’t disappointed. My giddy thoughts drifted as quickly as I flipped through the pages. When would I begin it? Would the authors respond if I reached out to learn more about their research? Where would this book lead me next? Why am I...