April 16, 2010

how things have to be

I am sitting in the warmth at a patio table with my coffee and my laptop.  It is early morning, the sun is out, the birds are chirping, and there's quiet, just perfect for writing a blog post.
But wait.  There's no quiet.  Actually, someone appears to be tearing an outbuilding apart in the yard beside me. There's a large family, about 20 or so, chattering cheerily in another language as some of them prepare breakfast 15 feet away.  A dog is barking frantically on the street.
This isn't perfect at all. How can I possibly write?
This gets me thinking.  What do I not do, because things are not perfect?  I have this idea of how things have to be in order to [fill in the blank].  
This shows up everywhere in my life.  Which I realize limits what I accomplish.  Particularly what I create, because it seems to matter most when I am trying to create something.
Somehow I have linked my circumstances to my effectiveness, to my creativity.  What would be possible if I gave that up?
How many of us hold ourselves back because we are waiting for that perfect set of circumstances to make our special contribution?

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