Brian's World

Towers and Dragons

I stole some time today to do a little bit of thinking.  I actually started the thinking yesterday if my memory serves me right, but the timeframe isn’t really critical.  What is important is the content and context of my thoughts.  What I think is greatly complemented by where I think it.  Where being not just the physical location, but the whole enviromental surrounding me.  I’ve been paying particular attention to the enviroment surrounding me for the past few days, trying to focus my attention of things I’ve forgotten, failed to notice, or shrugged off.

See I think the secret to all of this is really in the details.  The big picture is great, but thats not mine to easily shape.  I can, however, make large strides moving grains of sand.  Tomorrow no one will probably know what I’ve done, and the days after that will remain the same.  Not until someone takes out that old picture from a last year and notices hey, that pile is a few feet over in the other direction.

One thing I notice is that the sand always a way back.  You can fill up a wheelbarrel, dump it off somewhere, and give it some time.  It won’t be wear you left it.  Sure, some of the segments just naturally slide down as gravity takes its turn, but you need to account for those before you dump the pile.  Its the particles that are carried by critters, blown by the wind, or washed by the rain that are really important to me.  They can indicate the weather, migratory patterns, and the feelings towards the pile of sand.

There is an old proverb that goes something like “If you build it, they will come.”  I find that to be a bit to simple for my liking.  At first glance, one might be fooled into thinking that if you build a foundation “they” will come and help you finish the rest off.  Not the case at all.  Sure, building something will gain you something, but what you gain (unless your in the artificial intelligence field) won’t finish the job for you.

The proverb also establishes some tone indicating that when they come, it will be kind of a big deal, right?  The proverb doesn’t say “If you build it, 4 people will show up”.  “They,” being the masses that are, will come.  And honestly, when they arrive everyone, yourself included, will probably have a decent time.

Strategically, the post-party is left out.  What happens when they leave?  Yea, you guessed it, you’re left to clean and pick up the pieces.  Your small sand castle may be nothing but a small mound on the horizon, full of your memories, the sweat of your dedication, and the minutes of your persistance.  To them, they shrug, it was fun while it lasted.  Time to move on.  It can be hard to find the energy to clean up and put something back together, especially after every has left you literally in the dust.