Dịch
In volunteering to write this article, I feel like I am stepping out on a limb – this is a completely new type of venture for me, and that in itself seems to epitomize wood energy. So – this is an invitation to join me in experiencing some aspects of taking on a new pursuit (while I take on a new pursuit).
Spring is the season for new undertakings, new efforts, new interests. As we emerge from the chill and darkness of winter, we see life show itself again in crocus and daffodils poking their stems through the ground, buds on trees with either flowers or leaves forming – a promise of the summer to come. What we do not see are the shoots that don’t break the ground, that don’t make it to see the sun. But those failures exist, part of the natural process of the wood energy of spring. We just don’t always see them.
But in our own efforts, we are often painfully aware of how our work isn’t enough – we aren’t enough. Our failures are fully visible (at least to us), and so our spring-like attempts at new ventures do not seem to have the same quality as the manifestation of the wood energy in the natural world. We don’t see those failures in nature, because the natural world is so good at answering failure with yet another attempt, another direction or tactic. But failure is a crucial part of spring and wood energy, for that failure is the birthplace of perseverance.
In our own pursuits, if we feel we are not succeeding, we can get tired of making the effort to do this new thing we’ve chosen, lose heart, decide the endeavor is really not for us. And some new excursions do conclude with the discovery that there is not so much interest after all. How often have you started to pursue something when the realization hits – “I’m really not enjoying this”? That’s a good indication that maybe another pursuit would be more rewarding. But for myself, with goals I ardently want to achieve but am finding difficult, the mental wrestling often starts with questions like – why can’t I do this right? why don’t I learn more quickly?, others can do it, why can’t I? I have not found those questions to be particularly useful – they just make me feel bad, and don’t impel me to find solutions that actually work. At some point, I figured out that if I focus on the goal itself (and not my feelings about it), and actions that might get me closer to that goal, I had a chance at achieving it.
Our failures on a difficult path, including the roadblocks we encounter and detours we must take, are our friends. Each failure shows us something – oops, that’s not the right way to go about this, or wow, I could really use some help from someone who has more experience than I, or whoa, I thought I knew what I was doing but I was completely wrong! These are different questions, softer questions, and ones that have helped me develop curiosity about a “fail” situation, rather than worrying about “what did I do wrong?” And those questions make me think of more questions…what other approaches might there be? am I embarrassed or shy about asking for help? wonder why I assumed I knew what I was doing? To me these are interesting realizations, ideas to be curious about. And they can make the pursuit of new (and possibly frightening) activities, like writing an article that other people might read, carry the possibility of joy and renewal.
Two quotes below from heroes of mine:
“A person who never made any mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein
“If I haven’t made three good mistakes in a week, then I’m not worth anything. You only learn from mistakes.” – David Bowie
Spring forward! or sideways…or on a diagonal…
Karla Nielson
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