Tools that once held a sacred space in my head now are mere tools of the trade.

June 5, 2010 | Filed Under Small Talk 

If you’re into great stories, you’ll love thils short 25 or so minute film called Heartless. It’s the back story of the Tin Man before the Wizard of Oz. The movie visuals are beautiful, and the story classic. Worth the watch….

But that’s not the reason I’m writing this. Rather, I was reading a blog post by the director Brandon McCormick which had a few brilliant quotes.

For example:

Tools that once held a sacred space in my head now are mere tools of the trade.

While McCormick is talking about digital technology here, the point holds across the board. Even when it comes to our mental lives. Our existence.

Modern man tends to identify himself with his tools. His thoughts. His words. While words and thoughts are great tools, they are not our only tools and they are not who we are. They are tools in the trade of life. Personally, I think they are tools for greater things such as action and relationship. If we stop with the thoughts, it is like swinging a hammer through the air but not hitting anything. Thoughts, I believe, are not ends in themselves. But so many of us think that we are what we believe. Or what we assert. Or what we propose.

Another fine quote:

“If you can put things off until you have everything ‘right’, then you never really have to do anything.”

This issue of having to have everything right used to play a paralyzing role in my life. Having to have the right things to say. Having to have the exact ingredients for a recipe. Having to always get a laugh out of joke. Having to know the answers before I’d have a conversation. Having to know how the other person would respond before offering a compliment or a gesture of acknowledgement.

Sometimes it’s important to just be. To just act off what you know and feel. Now that doesn’t mean that you do stupid stuff for the heck of it. You need a reasonable level of preparation and competence… but the art of life is in the trying, the making, the building, the learning, the getting better and improving your craft/skill.

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