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I was recently having a telephone call with a good friend, and she was
talking about the new season starting… that season of the new school year. She was saying that her oldest is doing
well, but here we go, sort of starting all over with the next one down, and
seeing the youngers coming up and knowing that the feat of “education” will
need to be “performed” again and again.
Sounds a little daunting. She
was wondering… “Can I pull it off again?
Maybe my first child was just a fluke.
Maybe she was just easier?”
This reminded me so much of when I was in art school. I so remember the feeling that I had when I
was finishing up a large piece. (In
grad school, I worked on large pieces and they took perhaps a full semester to
complete.) In the beginning of work on
a new piece, I would have some degree of apprehension, but mostly adrenaline as
my idea began to take solidify, plans were made, materials were purchased
etc. Then, the real labor would begin…
the art making time. I would live and
breathe that piece. As the piece began
to take shape, it was quite exciting… the form emerges and the concept reveals
itself! But then came the questions and
the need to face the fact that this piece is wrapping up… and you know what
THAT means. Another piece… that’s
right. With each piece, the ante is
upped. (I’ve pulled it off again. And, now, more will be expected of me.) Towards the end of my work on a piece, as
all of the fine touches were to be put on, I always remember slowing down a
bit, almost not wanting the time to end, because, after this, it will be time
to venture into the unknown again. .
It’s a dramatic thing when an important job is completed. I always felt that after I finished a piece,
I was, in a sense, saying to the world “This is the best I can do. This is all of me.” That’s pretty scary, and humbling. And, how much more monumental is our job of
raising our children. Add Homeschooling
to that and you’ve really got a whopper.
But, I think September is the time that many people go through a down
time before the intense work on next school year takes shape… before the real labor begins. It’s a time to look at our past works and wonder
if we can pull it off again. Or, maybe
“the best that we can do” doesn’t look that great. “All of me” maybe isn’t too impressive. But, here comes the next wave… the next school year. Ready or not, we are called to do it.
Let’s jump off the cliff, into the unknown, and try to pull it off
again. |
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