A letter I wrote to my father
Father,
A steady hand
I suppose I was just giving you a buzz to express my appreciation.
That one time when I was sweeping the garage at the house with the big yard and Bettie Boop, (Taylors Ferry?) you asked me a pretty stupid question. The dust was being blown around nearly as much as I was sweeping it. "Are you waiting for the wind to do your work for you?" was more or less what you said. There was a gentle breeze that sensitive summer afternoon -- perhaps I was waiting. I was sweeping, doing so at only a quiet pace. Slowly. I don't recall that I had anything better to do that whole day than to sweep the garage, so I thought I might as well enjoy myself as I swept. Your perspective on the concept was that if one had a job to do, one should get the job done.
Well, how silly. Being an aspiring adolescent, I was no less prone to making grandeur observations to cement theories on how to save humanity. My therein observation was that it could very well be a huge flaw in the adult mentality to cease to enjoy work. Isn't work inevitable? Wouldn't the world be a better place if peace was exacted through our works, instead of stress? However, these are spiritual drivels borne of vague resentment of a lack of acceptance for my natural inclination... Or is it a balancer for this other side of truth? Is my "natural inclination" really any more than the vine to which must be pruned and cultivated lovingly?
At any rate, what good does it do to sit around and speculate as to the wind. Oneself should really only sooner aspire to meet the demand at hand. So the story goes I was aided in developing a sense of responsibility through goofy questions like "Are you waiting for the wind?" because all demands were reasonable and never out of malice. That is to say there was a hint of "You can do it" in your voice throughout my life. I feel like I have a higher sense of responsibility because of you. And I believe the punchline of this is that self-responsibility is psychologically necessary in accepting and fully understanding the truths of life.
Thusly, accepting truths of life, gaining in spirit, all sides benefit. I grow because of your steady hand.
Is this making sense?
Et Cetera,
Paternus
A steady hand
I suppose I was just giving you a buzz to express my appreciation.
That one time when I was sweeping the garage at the house with the big yard and Bettie Boop, (Taylors Ferry?) you asked me a pretty stupid question. The dust was being blown around nearly as much as I was sweeping it. "Are you waiting for the wind to do your work for you?" was more or less what you said. There was a gentle breeze that sensitive summer afternoon -- perhaps I was waiting. I was sweeping, doing so at only a quiet pace. Slowly. I don't recall that I had anything better to do that whole day than to sweep the garage, so I thought I might as well enjoy myself as I swept. Your perspective on the concept was that if one had a job to do, one should get the job done.
Well, how silly. Being an aspiring adolescent, I was no less prone to making grandeur observations to cement theories on how to save humanity. My therein observation was that it could very well be a huge flaw in the adult mentality to cease to enjoy work. Isn't work inevitable? Wouldn't the world be a better place if peace was exacted through our works, instead of stress? However, these are spiritual drivels borne of vague resentment of a lack of acceptance for my natural inclination... Or is it a balancer for this other side of truth? Is my "natural inclination" really any more than the vine to which must be pruned and cultivated lovingly?
At any rate, what good does it do to sit around and speculate as to the wind. Oneself should really only sooner aspire to meet the demand at hand. So the story goes I was aided in developing a sense of responsibility through goofy questions like "Are you waiting for the wind?" because all demands were reasonable and never out of malice. That is to say there was a hint of "You can do it" in your voice throughout my life. I feel like I have a higher sense of responsibility because of you. And I believe the punchline of this is that self-responsibility is psychologically necessary in accepting and fully understanding the truths of life.
Thusly, accepting truths of life, gaining in spirit, all sides benefit. I grow because of your steady hand.
Is this making sense?
Et Cetera,
Paternus