I smite thee! ...The Diary of Nod

Tapestries

Is life just a constant stream of badly timed encounters? Moments that slip in while we're unprepared--however much we might want them, they arrive inconveniently and against our plans and expectations?

We often hear the question, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" How much can we know about our future, even where we'll be tomorrow? I often muse about how much humanity ascribes to planning and effort that is entirely timing, the click that happens in an instant because of how we feel at that exact moment. How much of our lives is entirely dependent upon the seemingly small things that build upon themselves, bricks in our foundation? Infinitely minute trajectory changes, nudges to our character, until who we are is not who we intended to become. For better or for worse.

The truth: Life is a constant stream of badly timed encounters. Things don't go according to planning and they deviate from our hard efforts. Sliding doors play as great of a role and it's our responsibility to accept these events and move forward, to do the best that we can with what opportunity has presented us. We cannot change who we are today, only who we will be tomorrow. Roads we see will soon be hidden from view, if not bulldozed completely.

We are never ready for all that comes at us. So many people strive for security and stability and safety within predictability and plotting; it can't be obtained without the price of maturity through the unknown. Those who only experience those things which they are prepared for never grow, never expand their horizons. They ignore anything which they're unprepared for; for them, it doesn't exist. We grow by being challenged. Change is inevitable; growth is not.

The lesson is not to plan, or at least not over-plan, and to remove the rigity from our lives and enjoy the trip. If we cannot prepare for the unexpected, we should train ourselves to spot the rabbit hole and look inside. Perhaps we get bitten on the nose by a pissed off rabbit; perhaps we find adventures in wonderland. Appreciate the unplanned surprises--they are here now and only now. Life is a tapestry of events woven together until the beauty exists in the whole, not the individual threads.

posted by Lachlan @ 6:43 PM