To Err is to Learn

I watched this video yesterday about what it means to be wrong and it inspired me.

Today I found myself in that position. In the wrong. Perhaps the video subconsciously jump-started that sense of awareness in me but I realised that I had made an error in judgment. I kicked myself for quite a while, knowing that I should have known better. I should have thought things out and realised that impulses are not always a good thing. But then I stopped myself then and there and said that I am not one to use the words "should have". It is done. There is no use dwelling on it. I say this as the consequences stare me in the face. But I look back at them and acknowledge their presence despite the ill feeling that chases me. Come what may I will deal with it. And when it is over, I will learn a valuable lesson and it will make me a richer person.

Now don't get me wrong, this thing that I did is not serious enough to cause me ulcers or to lose sleep. Just a little mistake that can easily be rectified but which if I had chosen to continue with would probably have cost me more as I went along. Yet I still cannot let go of this nagging feeling in the gut of my stomach that makes me ill thinking of the consequences that I have yet to face. It stays with me, there, like dead weight at the back of my mind, like a shadow that just hangs over my head and does not go away. I know that I will be able to breathe easier once it is all over but despite this I tell myself to stop dwelling. Things could have been much worse and I caught it in time, like a disease that is caught in the early stages and now is time to administer a slightly painful remedy.  In retrospect it is a good thing that I did realise this now and choose to stop, think and decide. This had already given me a valuable lesson: the importance of self-evaluation in anything one does.

Along with the fact that one should just do it, grasp the moment or the opportunity and let your creativity loose, there is also the importance of stopping every now and then to evaluate the situation. To reflect and check whether one is indeed going down the right path. To look ahead and see whether there are any obstacles or potential hazards that one should try and avoid now. And to decide whether to continue down that path or not.

To err is truly to learn and it provides an opportunity to change ways and capitalise on alternatives. It also gives the opportunity to let go of those things that you might end up chasing for nothing and to save potentially wasted time and effort. Above all, for that I am grateful.

Sanctuary

Before I start my posting on sanctuary, I wanted to share my piece that got published a few days ago: A Matter of Identity.  So have a read and your comments are welcome of course, either here or on the site!

Yesterday's writing prompt was entitled sanctuary. It made me think about what it means in various contexts. There was the traditional sense of the home or the people you love. But I also thought of it from the point of view of any living being. A child, an animal, a flower, a bird. There was also the sanctuary of thoughts. The sanctuary for professions. The sanctuary for writers and the sanctuary of a community. The word just gives a feel-good notion and a comforting feeling. And after what seemed like ages, I found myself writing this fictional piece:

Sanctuary

Kenzy had been walking for days. It was the most alien and unwelcoming land she had ever seen. A combined terrain of desert and coarse rocks, she would be climbing on jagged ends one moment then sinking into soft pockets of deep and silky sand the next, without warning. It felt like she was experiencing an oxymoron to the mind and even though, the scientist within her wanted to stop to try and logically make sense of this strange place, she knew that stopping would be a means of surrender to exhaustion. One more mile and then she would reach her destination, or so the book said.

She had read of this pristine place where only a numbered few had set foot. It had seemed like a beguiling account of yet another lost Atlantis. Yet curiosity had surrounded her and dreams of this strange land invaded her sleep every night. As far as she was concerned, the decision had been made for her. Nothing this strong could be ignored despite the many rational explanations she had attempted to give herself to stop herself from embarking on such a crazy expedition. Alone and without telling anyone, even Jay, her partner in science and life. But she just had to find out for herself.

She brought herself back to her current surroundings and noticed how now there was less of a rock-desert terrain and instead, a growing vegetation around her. It only took her a few more steps to realise how she was slowly leaving the harshness of her journey behind. It felt like an explosion to the senses. There was colour. There was smell. And there was even touch as tiny flying creatures brushed past her shoulders and cheeks. Her eyes just did not know where to look. There was too much to take in. And then there was the sound of a soft trickle of water coming from afar. She found herself inadvertently walking towards it. It did not even feel like she was walking anymore, more like floating, just like she had been in those recurring dreams. She was drawn towards it and before she knew it, she found herself in the midst of a piece of paradise.

Captivated as her senses were by the happenings around her, she forced herself to dig up the book from her backpack, her motions inexplicably slow and unforced. She read the title of the book that she had analysed for a year, a dreamy look in her eyes, and in an instant its true meaning was revealed. It was a title that summed up what had she had tried to understand with the mind of cynic but which only now, perfectly explained everything. Sanctuary. She was standing in the midst of it and knew that her life would never be the same again.

Just Do It!

Nike got it right: Just Do It! I recall many a wasted moment thinking things over, contemplating an idea or dwelling over the pros and cons of an issue until valuable resources in the idea itself are completely exhausted. You end up with nothing more than a watered-down version of what you really wanted to do. And a run down version of the buzz you initially had. By then you just find yourself giving up on it and moving on. What a waste! So, yes, it truly is about just doing it. Grasping the moment, taking that leap of faith and just making it happen.

An idea takes you by storm. Get out there and make it happen. 

A muse enters your mind and captures your soul, develop it and bring it to life.

I will not just sit there and plot my novel. No, I am going to write it once and for all. Steadily and diligently. Refining it will come later.

Any bright spark that I get will not be murdered before it has a chance to see the light of day just because of financial and feasible impossibilities. Just do it. And by embracing that attitude, things do start happening and you do find the people and resources to give you the push or help you along the way.