"DIY"
I am not by nature a capable person, but then again, I don’t think anyone is. Nobody is born knowing how to do things. What we often mistake for innate ability is usually the glossing over of trial, error, and a process of practice that begun well before any bystanders came along. In this sense, every person is more a product of nurture far more than nature. Yes, biological preconditions exist, but only to a point.
Yet nurture can only take us so far. No parent can foresee the route their children will take. Try as they may with an unending plethora of lessons, classes, tutors, coaches, and so on, the parent will inevitably fail to see the path that will be taken. The best that can be done is to instill a love of learning as well as the ability to self-teach. Give the child the tools they need and the knowledge of how to use them. That is enough.
A threshold from adolescence to adulthood is crossed when the one takes responsibility for their own nurture and, by extension, the direction of their life. The path becomes defined by choice as we leave behind the forces that shaped us in the past by way of navigating our own future. Growing up depends on a person’s ability to articulate what it is they need to do to get to where they want to go; even whether the destination is worthwhile. It is ultimately the grown individual that must drill deep into the bedrock of who they are and decide to choose who they will become.
We all fear the unknown to a certain degree. Even the mundane unknowns of daily existence can weigh us down. But since nobody is born with the knowledge of living, skills must be learnt, and this process forces us to confront the fear head on. The chance of failure and the process of learning to overcome it is what creates value.
Only now, in middle age do I find myself crossing my own threshold through the decision to find a way to make a vision possible. This is why I believe it is not enough to buy the product. Ownership without involvement is hollow because the marks we make on things in life are less important than the marks life makes on us. At the end of the day, if you want to have something – if you want to become something – then you must do it yourself.
Yet nurture can only take us so far. No parent can foresee the route their children will take. Try as they may with an unending plethora of lessons, classes, tutors, coaches, and so on, the parent will inevitably fail to see the path that will be taken. The best that can be done is to instill a love of learning as well as the ability to self-teach. Give the child the tools they need and the knowledge of how to use them. That is enough.
A threshold from adolescence to adulthood is crossed when the one takes responsibility for their own nurture and, by extension, the direction of their life. The path becomes defined by choice as we leave behind the forces that shaped us in the past by way of navigating our own future. Growing up depends on a person’s ability to articulate what it is they need to do to get to where they want to go; even whether the destination is worthwhile. It is ultimately the grown individual that must drill deep into the bedrock of who they are and decide to choose who they will become.
We all fear the unknown to a certain degree. Even the mundane unknowns of daily existence can weigh us down. But since nobody is born with the knowledge of living, skills must be learnt, and this process forces us to confront the fear head on. The chance of failure and the process of learning to overcome it is what creates value.
Only now, in middle age do I find myself crossing my own threshold through the decision to find a way to make a vision possible. This is why I believe it is not enough to buy the product. Ownership without involvement is hollow because the marks we make on things in life are less important than the marks life makes on us. At the end of the day, if you want to have something – if you want to become something – then you must do it yourself.