The fool And The Master

I write poetry with the spontaneity and movement of a silken gown, falling slowly from the perfect form of a beautiful lady. I sculpt clay and carve my vision with simple strokes, that invokes, for a moment at least, the power that Art possesses; This of course is not good enough and so on I go to the next creative pursuit, in the name of struggle, perfection and mastery.

So, next I turn my hand, head and heart to painting. Painting so far, has me beaten and it is painting which most intrigues me; maybe for this reason alone. I wish to master painting with such grace, that it could be likened to a silken gloved hand, as it clasps delicately, but tightly, around a feather handled brush, without crushing its tender and original form [...or whatever, for those of you that dislike verboseness :) ]. Inadequacy can be hard to deal with, though I do also believe that inadequacy is a worthy state of affairs, because it is the required state, within the process of mastery. To master anything, one must first master oneself, including ones own inadequacies; to realise or acknowledge these short-comings, is to start the long journey toward mastery.

The next step is to conquer any fears that might be lurking in ones subconscious mind, these tend to rise to the surface like the slag in a smelter's pot, as the heat and pressure are turned up in the furnace of life; one must face these fears and they are plenty, let us not make any bones about that here.

Then comes determination, to fly in the face of adversity and not let one raindrop fall upon your shoulder, not one tear, not one morning dew drop. To take a running jump at that obstacle in your path; you will either clear it or fall flat on your face. Take solace when lying crumpled on the floor, face down; solace in the fact that you tried. You ran as fast as you could and you committed to the jump, as far as is humanly possible. When you get up and try that 'running jump', again and again, you will have mastered (no not running) determination. Success starts with and finishes with conquering/liberating your own mind and maybe as a consequence of that liberation, helping others to take that very same journey for themselves.

Forgiveness and understanding are also a part of mastery. When you are on this journey, it is like a crystallise changing into a butterfly, and just as the crystallise changes, so does the person making the journey; when one realises that this change is necessary and path of the course, then it becomes easier to understand others' mistakes or shifts in their nature/ attitudes etc. which are necessary, even in oneself. When undertaking to master something, this understanding grows and leads ultimately to forgiveness. So, it may be easy to judge a person based on a snapshot fragment of their life, but it is rarely a realistic picture of events. All of those that are trying to master something are trying to master themselves and this can be quite a task to complete. Anyone who undertakes such a task deserves a little bit of leeway.

Show me a self proclaimed master and I will show you someone who has given up on mastery and settled for being good at something.

Show me a fool who thinks that he/she is master of all that he/she purveys and I will show you a genius who knows that he/she is, but just a fool.

Allow the fool who tries, the grace to get up from their falls, so that they may continue their journey and reach their own elusive destination.