On suffering, storytelling, and the danger of looking back too long.

It would not do any good to complain about all my suffering on the kiln build. One should not write about themselves, maybe. However, I do suppose it is said that even the warrior Odysseus sat and told his story of sufferings to the Phaeacians after leaving the fallen walls of Troy. So I do suppose someone might listen.

However, you should leave it to others and the bards to tell about, as if you had time to tell stories of suffering on your journey you might forget the journey itself simply from sitting and looking back too long. While at times it might be a positive thing to see how far you came, if you fail to create there is nothing more to tell.

So even though the kiln project has been somewhat overwhelming and is taking quite some time, I need to keep creating brick by brick and pot by pot. I worry if I stop, my story would stop. When a story stops you might start living a story someone else handed to you, one that someone else created. Many times it’s the journey that gives meaning and purpose to life.

So I’ll stop complaining about all my suffering and maybe try to lay in a few bricks tomorrow when I get home from work at the big paper factory. Even one row of brick laid in would be nice if I have the energy.

If I were living yesterday a second time: I would have laid one row of brick instead of writing about why I haven’t been laying brick.

Things I am grateful for: The journey itself, which is the whole point.

If I get to live to be 86, I might only have: 12,617 days left.

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