Dear Reader,

The art of humanity is deeply surrendered to direction. Before one is born, a mother in labor is directed by medical professionals; in school, our assignments are given with instructions; in photoshoots, cinematography, applications, roadmaps – all engulfed in direction. One can even receive an Academy Award for skillfully directing. So what happens when after receiving direction for our entire existence, all of a sudden, we lose our sense of direction? Like all the areas listed above, as one can imagine, an immense amount of misdirection begins to set in – because the opposite of direction is, well… yes… misdirection.

On the other hand, we’re also conditioned to believe and recognize that the path to success is very seldom linear… or as another person may put it, there’s more than one way to skin a cat… which leads me still to believe, all still require some sense of direction.

Have you ever tried to assemble furniture without following directions? Screws, bolts, washers, just aimlessly existing. Just as soon as the directions are followed, the finished product is marvelous. Sometimes, we follow the directions and the pieces still just don’t quite fit, or we followed the directions based on our interpretation, and had to go back a couple of steps to get it… just right… it just took interpreting it another way to get to that place. There’s one important step that is also vital to following directions (specifically when assembling furniture), and that is organizing the pieces and ensuring all the tools necessary to get your finished product are present. Often times, you can finish the project if you’re missing one or two screws. But there are times when a piece is so unique that you cannot achieve the end goal without going back to the manufacturer, and even that can feel misdirected.

The despair and frustration to locate the resources, contact the source, and explain your issue – and not only that… wait for the arrival of the missing piece so you can get back to work is exasperating. So much so we just feel like giving up… but even if we give up… the pieces are still left sitting. What’s more painful… being patient, or looking at the unfinished project, sitting, and taking up space with unfulfilled purpose… wow… what a waste, of time, money, energy, and anticipation of a finished product, or simply put, potential.

I’ll end with this: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal – it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

Sincerely,

-a modern day woman.