There Is No Think

"Do or do not do. There is no try." Master Yoda famously said these words to Luke as he tried to lift a rock. I say this over and over again to myself. Even more often I say, "Do or do not do. There is no think."

Written on my arms, over my Washington state tattoo right now is "just paint. don't think. just paint." I did. It had been too long. It was a matter of getting out of the thought process into the doing process. So is this. It's been a very frustrating week, with work and my grandfather dying (don't worry - I'm fine, though my family could use prayer, if you pray) and being mildly sick, and I've been unable to figure out how to express it artistically, so I just didn't.

I don't have a draft, or even much of a point. I'm just writing*. Sometimes that's all you can do. I'm learning that there is a time to sit back and rest, but sometimes you just have to do something. If you fail, you know how not to do it.

There is a story about Thomas Edison, which may or may not be true. He was asked why he did not get discouraged in his repeated failures in his approximately 1000 attempts to invent the light bulb. Edison, according to the story, responded, "I never failed to invent the light bulb: I learned 1000 ways not to make a light bulb."

Do or do not do. There is no think.

*Between some poor typing and autocorrect, I initially said, "I'm just gritty."

"Do or do not do. There is no try." Master Yoda famously said these words to Luke as he tried to lift a rock. I say this over and over again to myself. Even more often I say, "Do or do not do. There is no think."

Written on my arms, over my Washington state tattoo right now is "just paint. don't think. just paint." I did. It had been too long. It was a matter of getting out of the thought process into the doing process. So is this. It's been a very frustrating week, with work and my grandfather dying (don't worry - I'm fine, though my family could use prayer, if you pray) and being mildly sick, and I've been unable to figure out how to express it artistically, so I just didn't.

I don't have a draft, or even much of a point. I'm just writing*. Sometimes that's all you can do. I'm learning that there is a time to sit back and rest, but sometimes you just have to do something. If you fail, you know how not to do it.

There is a story about Thomas Edison, which may or may not be true. He was asked why he did not get discouraged in his repeated failures in his approximately 1000 attempts to invent the light bulb. Edison, according to the story, responded, "I never failed to invent the light bulb: I learned 1000 ways not to make a light bulb."

Do or do not do. There is no think.

*Between some poor typing and autocorrect, I initially said, "I'm just gritty."

There Is No Think