Ordinary People: Keeping it Real

Mr. DD claims that the hardest struggle in life is to become ordinary.  At first I was puzzled - why would anyone want to be just, well, no more than he/she is?  If you don't aspire to greatness, won't you miss reaching your full potential?

If we work at being just ourselves, disinterested in what others think of us while we treat our time on the planet as one great experiment, how can we not become things of wonder?  If we're not concerned about fame or fortune, but continue to explore our interests, where we excel will become apparent.  If we attempt to impress others, we will be drawn towards deceit because what we are won't be good enough.  (I was caught in this in my last blog post, when I unintentionally left the impression that the yarn I photographed was my own.  It's not.  Someone else reeled and plied it.  It's stunningly beautiful, but I didn't make it.)

This doesn't mean that we should never show anyone what we spin, or knit or weave.  We need to build confidence in our work in order to grow.  Praise can help us build confidence; sincere criticism can help us solve problems we may not even see.  Any decent teacher needs a bit of the performer in her.  If we didn't enjoy the attention, we couldn't teach.  But it's not hard to fall into the trap of believing we know more than we do or that others need to believe that of us.

Becoming ordinary may change your view of the world.  It certainly gives me a lot to consider.

Namaste.

A basket of my silk singles