reach.
Dog Food and a Dead Mouse
This morning I put my hand into a bag of dog food and pulled out a dead mouse.
This is true.
I'm not telling you this to gross you out. Although it was gross and my hand still feels violated. I flung the mouse and dog food hard as if it was a live snake biting my hand. I guess you could say I was freaked out. I then completed a disturbing rendition of a tap dancing circle ceremony. I guess it was an attempt to cleanse myself? Not really sure.
What I am sure of is that I don't always get what I'm reaching for.
This I know to be true.
Obviously.
Sometimes my grasp is too weak. I don't have enough understanding. Or knowledge. Or competence.
Sometimes the distance is too great. Just out of reach. Unattainable. Elusive.
Sometimes the sheer magnitude overwhelms me. Over-sized. Daunting. Too big.
For me, I would like built-in security. A well-known sequence of reaching out with effort equaling a proportionate amount of reward. Ideally that equation works best for me.
Sometimes that happens and sometimes not.
I suppose this seems like the little sister to failure. Maybe it is. But, I think reaching out and obtaining unknown or unexpected results is different. It's more about trying and then possibly achieving something unforeseen. This could be good or bad.
Lately it seems like I'm getting plenty of practical experience with unsuccessful reaches.
After kicking myself, thinking I should give up or in this case shaking off a rodent I'm trying to encourage myself to revise. Maybe a transition or change is in order. Or maybe I'm going in a new direction, heading toward something I couldn't imagine. All I know is going down the same road won't get me different results.
It's important to make adjustments. Fine-tune. Modify. Revise. Rework.
The critical thing is to keep going.
Keep showing up.
I'm going to continue in my creative practice. Maybe try new substrates. Master new methods. Study different techniques. Explore a new approach. Be a virtual apprentice. Keep learning. Keep reaching.
But, I'm sure we can all agree that there's one easy adjustment I should make.
Pour. The. Dog. Food. Out. Of. The. Bag.
This change is easily within reach.
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember you have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”