This morning I woke with some really good thoughts. Thoughts which took me into my darkness…again. I asked myself, “Why is life so complex?” To which I replied, “There is elegance in complexity.” And I felt that, so I meditated on it. There is an elegance to complexity. It is grace gained by practice. Yes, there is grace and beauty in a finished product – from the tiniest of knots to the most massive of structures. But there is even more grace in the practitioner’s process toward mastery. To put this in a more common, metaphorical term, “it’s about the journey not the destination.”
At first, the would-be master may follow the steps laid out by their teachers. And as the individual process evolves, they will find new ways to overcome challenges which present themselves. The future master embraces the wisdom of their teachers, as well as the wisdom of their own unique past, and combines them with the wisdom of each of their new failures, continually working not to repeat them. This is what exposes the path of their unique “how to.” Then, with continued focus it seamlessly becomes less about avoiding failure and more about cultivating and honing their unique style toward mastery.
Too many of us want to know what it’s going to take to achieve something. We want to know the exact steps so we can repeat them and achieve the expected outcome. But life has an uncontrolled variable. Individuality. Individuality forces us to embrace that results are never achieved the same way twice. Because there are no two ways which are identical, even if the defined steps are followed exactly. Because the nimble fingers of the knot maker today are not as skilled as they will be tomorrow. And they are certainly not the fingers of any other.
We all may see the same steps to a goal. But because those steps are filtered through minds with unique past wisdom, the future potential becomes unique to the individual, as well. Now the only questions which remain are, can we embrace the wisdom in our past; the wisdom which can only be found in our darkness? Or would be prefer to continue to blame it for what we have become?
