Tuesday, February 19, 2013

letters across the miles

Dear Kristine,

I am excited to begin this new adenture with you.  I look forward to watching it unfold. 

Recently I have been giving a lot of thought to perfection and how I tend to not begin something because I feel like I do not have all of the pieces perfectly together to start.  Therefore, the idea, project, or moment sits there on the shelf never given the chance to see where it could go.  But nothing in life ever begins perfectly.  There are growing pains, messy pieces, and beautiful ah-ha moments. 

Life is evolving and we are constantly expanding and growing.  Where we begin is never where we end up and so much is learned along the way.  The pieces do not have to be perfectly alighned.  We can pick them up as we go and see how they fit together. 

I am glad that we decided to just begin and see where this naturally evolves.  Had we not jumped in, it would be just another thing sitting on my shelf waiting for the perfect moment.  And nothing great can come from an idea collecting dust on a shelf. 

This lesson of beginning has recently been presented to me often.  I have been shown time and time again that what I see as a final stage was never what it looked like in the beginning. 
I see the final project, all polished and clean and I am in awe.  But what I do not see is the hundreds of drafts that were tossed and the miles treked to get to that polished piece. 

Do you remember in grammer school when you had to "show" your math?  This was so the teacher could see how you got to the final resolution.  What if we had to do that in life?  What if we had to show all the stumbles and failures we endured before getting to the final resolution?  I think we would see that each of us are human and it all takes us work to get to where are.  We may even begin to be kinder to ourselves. 

What is sitting on your shelf that you are wanting to begin but have yet to start?  I have a whole bookshelf worth of projects and ideas.  I think I may start to dust some of them off, give them a whirl, and put the pieces together as I go along. 

Wishing you a fantastic week ahead.  Look forward to hearing from you soon. 

xo
Jennifer
(01)

be sure to check out Kristine's site next tuesday for her letter response

3 comments:

Kathryn Dyche said...

You describe it perfectly when you talk about math and how we had to show our process to our teachers. I'm sure there's many of us afraid to start without all the pieces lined up but I need to learn that its often when we start that way that we get the best results.

K8 said...

oh I like this idea! Can't wait to read more letters! :)

Tadd and Debbie said...

I so *love* this idea and am delighted that you are gifting us with being able to tag along!!

As a child with serious health issues and living on a farm, I grew to love writing letters and receiving them. Smiling because I come from a long line of letter writers. I remember sitting in my Grandma's living room and we would all listen as she read the latest newsy letters from her grown children from their homes in different states.

What I especially cherish about snail mail is the slower rhythm and pace, and the deep richness that comes from the built in "in-between" times.