Shallow Wading #feelingthwarted

Dear Maria,

Few, if any, analogies are perfect, and figurative language is the slipperiest of slopes, of course. Yes, yes, I see what I did there. A recent picture I posted on Facebook, that of a newborn being held by her older brother—older by a few years—other than being nearly angelic in the moment, led me to think about how she does not thwart him in any fashion like his other siblings yet and then my mind was quick to extend the thought to all of us. Isn’t life a series of moments and decisions that often seem to thwart our desires, our hopes, our expectations.

Okay, so an image recently has come to mind of each of us holding a hand—fingers together—up in front of our face, palm just millimeters from our nose so that our sight, if not blocked completely, is limited and askew. Bear with me. I am thinking of this image as our young selves and what we know of the world. Now, take the index finger of your other hand and touch the middle of your palm and slowly push your hand out. Slowly. That changing perspective is you learning—formally and informally—more and more about the world.

Were your arms long enough, at some point you would see all and your hand that once so significantly controlled your view would become just a small part of the larger landscape.

Okay, fair enough, you ask: The thwarting part? If you allow that each and every individual has their palm in front of their faces and that each and every one of us sees a larger picture, if you will, to varying degrees—how can we not thwart one another? No doubt, some folks keep that palm planted pretty close to the nose and don’t care whether they thwart someone else or not. Got that.

A friend of mine recently told me she was headed toward a committee meeting that did not seem especially engaging—imagine that, hahaha! Maybe next time she can take a moment to guestimate where each committee member holds their hands, metaphorically speaking, by how they speak to one another and how they listen to one another.

Do I overreach?

Some of this idea is rooted in how I recognized that we often ask our students to push their hands out a bit and sometimes ask them to reach too far—socially, psychologically, academically, etc. But, that bird walk for another time.

Cooler weather is arriving, and as the sun shifts lower and to the south, the roses bloom in scattered fashion. My Knockouts never do mass, but I rather like the floating blooms at the end of long, reaching stems. A sort of, well, yearning. Most likely mine.

Stay bundled, be well, and maybe soon.

Still, srk