Saturday, 10.41pm
Sheffield, U.K.
You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead. – Stan Laurel
Some people know exactly what they want to do and what they want to be and have a plan to get them there.
I’m not one of those people.
I meander, go down wrong pathways, look around, turn back, get lost, go somewhere else.
When you don’t know what the goal is then any path will do.
And that’s interesting, all on its own.
Take learning to draw, for example.
This blog is about using drawing to help one think more clearly.
I don’t really have much to say in terms of instructions – how to draw, for example.
I also don’t have much to say about thinking.
I simply use drawing and writing as a way to explore my thinking.
Which I fear is the wrong way to do it – I have the words of authors like Naipaul running through my head as they rail against people who try and understand their inner world rather than the outside one.
Narcissism, they shout.
But how can you understand others if you don’t first understand yourself?
Every once in a while, it’s worth starting again, trying something different.
If that works, then great. If you return to your old ways, that’s ok too.
Intentional practice – that thing about doing something again and again until you get it right only works when the something is simple and unambiguous.
It works if you want to play the violin or play a sport at a world class level.
When it comes to just being you… I’m not sure it’s as simple as that.
Cheers,
Karthik Suresh
Handcrafted insight 