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Everything. It is the playing field of all things in and out of motion. It is the connections between these things that we call insight and which we build upon to create knowledge. Remembered and applied judiciously knowledge forms wisdom. The interactions between things (including your being) is play and the quality of these interactions is art.
Very little of this shows up on your doorstep. The spaces of the world, the objects or experiences within these spaces, and certainly not the connections. You make them, find them, remake them, refine them, fall in love with them, share them, let them stand on their own. Do not doubt this ability in yourself. Connections can start out in earnest and end up pretty ridiculous but usually it is the other way around, (as Camus says). So don’t despair failure nor fear the absurdity of original endeavors as it is your space to connect whatever, . . .however, . . .whenever. A job, a house, a spouse, 2.1 kids . . . fine for sure but experiences need not connect in a straight line to create richness of meaning. A bit more random and more dimensional is when each idea connects to every other idea. Takes time of course but you can seek them out and make sense of them in the face of someone or something coaxing you to take the “short route”, the “straight and narrow path”, the “obvious choice” . . . . think kaleidoscopically instead. Life doesn’t come with a syllabus yet there are required things. Maybe NOT STARTING with a syllabus is primary thus letting experiences rather than expectations chart your journey. Trust yourself and be patient; you’ll have a lot to write about later on. Mallory Bagwell © 8/2015 It's been said you can't cross a ditch in two steps. I get that. Put your best effort into your work. All or none law. It's apropos for many situations. Arguably, crossing a ditch in two or three, or four steps has value too. The creative process for one, feedback loops for another, certain areas of jurisprudence, forensic debate, dialectics, . . .all in all not that many runs are scored in the game of life with one swing of the bat. But the small steps to cross any ditch do add up—each a different contribution to the same end goal. The irony is polymaths and renaissance types are held in higher esteem than jack of all trades or those with fingers in many pies even though they have footprints all over the same creek bed. It's a matter of perspective, Steve Jobs said it well "looking back, all the dots connect" Only then we find a little bit of Forrest Gump, Chauncey Gardner, and Walter Mitty in ourselves. Never intending but always realizing.
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AuthorRetired 'Professional Kid' — now I walk around in a suit all day. ArchivesCategories |
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