What idea do you get just a bit too much pleasure out of? That is your most dangerous idea because, just like a passionate but toxic relationship, it’s the idea that is blinding you to red flags. You are so enamored of it, get so much pleasure from believing it that you forego the usual checks and balances you have on new ideas. Next thing you know you are deep into it and feel like you have invested too much to turn away. This is not true. It only has power when you hold on to it. Drop it like a bad dream and see how it’s power fades as you move away from it.
You won’t regret it.
“The average man does not get pleasure out of an idea because it is true. He thinks it is true because he gets pleasure out of it.”
She was writing the letter to her father but had a hard time saying what she wanted so she had started it 7 times.
By that time she was copying bits and pieces of the earlier attempts into the letter in the hope it would finally come together.
The first letter was too harsh. The second was too mushy. The third was too mushy. The fourth was too safe. The fifth was too pretentious and the sixth was too boring.
The seventh was turning out to be all those things and she didn’t like that so she took a break to get another cup of coffee.
As she stood in line she saw a mother roughly pull her child out of the way of a customer walking with a hot cup of tea. It reminded her of something good.
She put on her headphones and got lost in her romance novel until it was her turn to order. The barista said, “Bless you.” when she paid. It gave her a warm feeling.
While she was waiting at the end of the counter she saw an old man grab a pile of napkins as he picked up his drink with both hands. He smiled at her and said, “You can never be too careful, right?”. “Don’t I know it.” she said back with a smile.
As she settled back in her chair she heard the man behind her explain in great, minute detail the process of brewing a perfect cup of coffee to whoever he was with. She quietly chuckled and rolled her eyes.
She felt confident now of what she wanted to tell her father. She smiled as she wrote the five words and signed her given name.
In September of 2018 I went to Erie, Pennsylvania to run the Erie Marathon. It was my final effort to qualify for the 2019 Boston Marathon before the registration deadline the very next day. We had to take a short bus ride from a giant parking lot to the small start area in a nature preserve. While on the bus I met sisters Katie and Emily Funk who had flown in from out of town like I had to run the race. We had a good, if brief, conversation before we arrived at the start area and went on our way. We traded names and promised to connect on social media to see how we all did.
Katie and Emily Funk after the Erie Marathon, Sept. 9th, 2018
After the race we did indeed connect on Social Media. All 3 of us had qualified for Boston at the race and were making plans to connect again in Boston come April. However, one of the quirks of the Boston Marathon is that you can qualify and still not make it in and that is what happened to me. I missed out by 16 seconds. But the sisters made it in with time to spare and fulfilled their dream by running in the 2019 race.
Emily and Katie
Sisters, Sisters
You can see two things by the t-shirt Emily is wearing. One, they live in the neighboring states and two, they love each other a great deal and cherish the times they can get together. This was often when they were running marathons around the country together, always with the hope of qualifying for Boston.
Emily and Katie with the father, Charlie Funk, after the race
Not only are the two of them runners but so is their dad and a third sister, Jennie. Charlie Funk got the idea he wanted to run Boston when Emily went off to Boston College and he got hooked on the idea of running past BC at mile 21. He made it happen in 2008 (and 3 more years). Jennie has run Boston as well. Ever since then they have been a running family.
Painting the Relationship and the goal
Late in 2020 I got an unexpected message from Emily. She told me that they had tried for years to qualify, running 4 marathons together, each time coming up short until finally at Erie they made it happen. And now she wanted to give Katie something that would be a memento, not just of Boston, but of the entire journey they have been on together. So she contacted me hoping I might be available to create something. She sent me some photos of them together and some in action during races. She also sent me pics of the 5 medals representing the 5 races they had run.
After doing a lot of collaging and editing of the various photos I came up with an idea and executed it. I wanted to include the two of them, the 5 medals and the ribbons that held the medals. Here is the final result.
I sent it off to Emily in time for her to present it to Katie when they got together sometime after Christmas. She sent me a pic of them holding it along with all the medals. It made me feel great to have been asked and to be able to produce something that represented their love and their journey.
The world is my idea. Wow, this sounds pretty darn egotistical, doesn’t it? I mean, aren’t I just a mere dust speck in the world? Yes, I am. And that idea of who I am is MY idea of who I am. It is something I constructed in my mind out of all that I have experienced of the world. You however may think you aren’t a mere speck of dust. You might think you are the most important being on the planet. I know some people who think that actually. And that is their idea of the world and their place in it.
My point is, don’t be fooled into thinking that your idea of the world is the world. It’s not. The world is the accumulation of everyone’s understanding of it AND it is well beyond all those definitions as well. So, to be more effective on this planet hold on lightly to your idea of the world. Allow that others’ ideas might have equal validity. They might not as well. Your job is to be open to listening to what that idea is and see if you can learn something from it. Maybe what you learn is that idea is toxic and dangerous or maybe you’ll find out that idea is sublime and healthy. Either way, knowing your idea is just one of many will help you grow and expand your mind and heart.
And don’t be afraid. You aren’t obligated to take on someone else’s idea just because you listen to it.
I drew this last year at my local Starbucks in Oklahoma (before we moved to Texas). I thoroughly enjoy going to cafes and drawing the scenes I find. In this case it was 4 people working away. I got the impression they were all students but, unlike many times, I didn’t go over and introduce myself to them that I can remember.
I had received new watercolor paper as a gift earlier in the year so I brought that along with the anticipation of drawing then returning home to paint. I forgot about the drawing in the fervor of our move and didn’t bring it out again until I had a number of commissions over Christmas that I was doing in watercolor. Once they were done I wanted to continue in that medium and brought this and a few other drawings out.
This piece, and almost all my pieces, are for sale so if you are interested, let me know!
