I shared a note yesterday about an analogy I have for the process of approaching work worth doing – walking down a corridor with motion activated lighting. In response, Will wrote in sharing a quote that he found inspiring during his P.hD thesis.
“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”| E.L. Doctorow
It is the same idea – more articulately stated.
A couple of reflections –
(1) Most good ideas we have are either identical to or have echoes with ideas from the past/from different cultures. Over the years, I’ve loved hearing about these echoes – often via email responses from many of you (thank you!) – as they’re a reminder that there are a few fundamental principles that are causal to a more fulfilled life.
(An aside – someday, I’d love to attempt compiling these principles together. Not this day though. :-))
(2) Working with the analogy of driving at night in the fog, I think the most important decisions we make are (a) which road we are on (direction) and (b) how we drive (process).
Driving on the wrong road is disastrous and will take us nowhere. And driving too fast, without intention, and without bringing the rest of the folks in the car along can be equally disastrous.
Pick direction and run with good process. The path will reveal itself.
