I try not to use words like heartbreaking or devastating unless there is cause to use them.
It is for the same reason I try to limit raising my voice, I want people to recognize the import of when I yell or use such words.
I want there to be an impact of some sort and not just dull silence.
Don’t ask me if I prefer silence to being misunderstood and or accused of hyperbole because I am not sure how to answer and I don’t want to waste time.
Time being the prime example of the thing I cannot control and a cruel reminder that sometimes it just doesn’t matter how hard you try.
You can’t control other people or make them do/act/be as you wish they should.
It is like the old chestnut about how you can take a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.
Look At The Blue Skies
A young man fell into a pit.
It was daylight and when his family called out to him he called back and in short order a rescue plan was devised.
In theory it looked like it would be an easy thing to manage. All they needed was a rope or ladder and the boy could climb or be pulled out.
Except it wasn’t ever as easy as it looked.
The ladder didn’t reach all the way to the bottom and the boy refused to grab the rope.
His father climbed down and said for him to climb upon his back so that he could carry him out.
And so the boy did and for a while it looked like all was fine, except the next day they discovered the boy was back at the bottom of the pit.
“Look at the blue skies and trust me. We can pull you back out if you let us.”
There was no response from down below.
In a panic they looked down and saw eyes looking back at theirs and then the boy gave a brief wave and moved back into the darkness.
Some Things Are Heartbreaking & Some Are Devastating
Heartbreaking is how you describe the scene in which the boy falls into the pit.
Devastating comes later when his family discovers he prefers to be in the pit and refuses to see the light shining down upon him.
It is a feeling that lingers and dares you to demonstrate why it shouldn’t be given free reign.
It is a cold and clammy embrace that comes with a soft whisper suggesting you have earned its special attention.
More Than One Way To Skin A Cat
Someone once told me I frustrated them because I ignore what I don’t want to hear and do what I want.
I disagreed and said I didn’t ignore what I don’t want to hear.
I match actions against words and consider whether I believe whether people believe what they are saying.
And then I go with my gut.
Perhaps it is a mistake and I am nothing more than a fool.
I am sure there are more than a few who would vote for such a designation and or call me far worse.
It happens. Some people love me. Some people don’t.
Some people are ambivalent.
My job isn’t to figure out who is who and which is which. Life will sort that out and those who wish to be a part of mine will be or won’t.
Of this I am certain.
What I am less certain is how certain things came to be as they are and how to solve them.
There is more than one way to skin a cat and I not unwilling to try as many as necessary.
But along the way I am very conscious of how I am playing a game whose rules are unknown to me.
My tools and resources are limited and I worry about whether I am chasing a cat that doesn’t exist.
The guy in the picture woke up the other day and wondered why he heard For Emily Whenever I May Find Her in his head.
For a moment he lay there and wondered if it was part of a dream or something else.
Rolled onto his side and stared at the beams of sunlight that were too tough for the shades to block and thought about his day.
It didn’t really matter why or how the song was in his head because it made him smile and gave him a warm feeling.
That warm feeling felt like hope and sometimes that is all you need to turn a rough moment around.
So he rolled out of bed, wandered over to the shower and thought about the pit and the boy.
There is more than one way to skin a cat.
