Following the Journey of Bracha's Train of Thought
Part 1: Art of Life
Its a typical day in the Art caravan; 15 girls are squeezed into a room not much bigger than the average kitchen. Many girls have opted to move their large projects outside, and have the fresh air(and newly found elbow space) inspire them. My art teacher walks around to each girl, asks them if they need help, and questions their techniques. This particular day I have been spending around 6 hours building a frame for a giant computer screen (don't ask...its art) made completely out of wooden shishkabob sticks, masking tape, and every now and then a bit of hot-glue. The more effort I put into my work, the more unsturdy it seemed to be getting. Laboring away at my seemingly endless task, my teacher approaches me with a large cardboard box, evidently the previous home to a nice sized TV screen. I tear away from my project(nabbing myself with the end of a particularly pointy stick) and look up at him. In his hands was the answer to my frustratingly wobbly project. The size of the box was exactly the size I needed to build the frame for my computer screen! If I had only had this box 6 hours before! Oh the work that would've been saved! And then I remember what my teacher is constantly telling us:" girls, the final grade is not made up of your final product, but the tahalich, or process, that it takes to get there!" I decide to abandon my fruitless shiskabob-hot glue mission, and embrace the potential of the flat screen TV box. And oh boy am I grateful that I chose to do that!
This is life. We can spend many days, weeks, months, even YEARS of our lives trying to make something work, while we are constantly met with disappointment, and in a short period of time our problems can be solved. Most people continue to labor in their fruitless endeavors simply because they don't want to face the "wasted time," and admit there is a different way. But if you look at that time as a sort of "incubation period" for the real solution, it becomes much easier to accept the changes, and go with the flow. I figure that my cardboard-box-solution only came because I had put in those 6 hours of work. I had to work with something difficult, so that when the simpler solution came, I could be more grateful for it. At first I was frustrated that I had even bothered with the sticks and glue, but then when I began to work with the box, I realized how much more pleasant it was, and my frustration was pushed out of my thoughts.
Life is more than obtaining your goal. Its about the road leading to that goal. What happens on your journey is equal, or even more valuable than the final product. Getting to your end-goal is about taking it one step at a time, and embracing all the possibilities that can bring you there. Sometimes you can reach a fork in the road, and imagine what would happen if you went on either paths. If you have been traveling a bumpy road, and suddenly come to a fork between that same road or a smoother one, it would only be advantageous to take the smooth road. Some of us are scared of new things, of change, or of admitting that we have been doing things the hard way. If we could only find the strength and courage to take that new road, we may be able to solve a lot of our overwhelming problems! Keep your eyes open, and never regret effort: it will always bring you to the right solution!
And all this was learnt from an Art lesson!
~Bracha Kurtzer
Part 2: My Utopia
As I'm sure most people do, I love vacations. It gives me time to relax, travel, and build new thoughts. Over Pesach break I had the privilege to travel all over our Holy Land of Israel. I was in Tzfat, Tiberias, Jerusalem, Petach Tikvah, and many other exciting places. On one of my excursions, my grandparents, sister and I visited a beautiful botanical garden called Utopia. It was truly an Utopia: it was as if someone had transported Gan Eden into a giant greenhouse.
Being that the park is relatively new, some areas in the outside gardens were not completely grown in, but bore signs such as "The Enchanted Forest," where a group of small trees were inching their way out of the ground, or " Magical Flower Fields," where only small buds were visible. It was interesting to walk around what would one day be a field of dreamy flowers, or a thick forest of bustling trees, but was now just coarse ground and baby plants.
I recently read a wonderful book called "You Don't Have to Learn Everything the Hard Way: What I Wish Someone Had Told Me." In that book the author describes a beautiful sight: imagine that you are standing in the middle of 1,000 acres of beautiful, bright daffodils. The flowers are planted as far as the eye can see, stretching out into the distance. Just as you begin walking, you meet up with a sign that tells you how all those delightful daffodils got there. It read, "One Bulb at a Time."
Each of us is like a small plant, struggling to grow and learn about our surroundings. When we're in the middle of a situation, it is difficult to see the end result, yet our hearts carry the signs that tell us what we are to be. Some of us will be "Enchanted Forests," while others will be "Magical Flower Fields." At the moment, our prospects may seem like bare earth, but if we follow our hearts and minds we can lead ourselves to our deepest potential. For me, walking through the Utopia Gardens helped build an internal Utopia. To know that growth is just as much of the reward as being grown-up is a comfort and encouragement. It is just important to take it one step at a time and enjoy the journey!
A friend likes to quote something funny. She says, "How do you swallow an elephant? One bite at a time!" Don't forget that each bite brings us closer to our craving of a higher life!
~Bracha Kurtzer
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