Almost…

:There is no try, only do. Yoda taught us that. Now, almost…is another matter.

There is no try, only do. Yoda taught us that. Now, almost…is another matter.

My young mind tried to sort out its meaning. Shy of a home run or a winning score, almost was meant to be a constellation prize of sorts. It did sooth or perhaps only distracted me. Yet my Mom never bought into it. Coming home with an 89 score instead of a 90, “almost doesn’t count” ringed in my little ears. Same word, different meaning. Little if any comfort. Almost invites the story of how close we come to …it, whatever it is. Almost makes me daydream of all the almost results. Sometimes its usage appears to warrant a second place finnish instead of victory.

Our Learning Center participants grow and grow at their own pace sometimes accelerated by a long term workshop commitment or two. Then there is the “I almost captured the image of the fox, if only I had a charged battery in my camera.” Hmmm… I believe in projects, committing and finishing yet I have more projects unfinished than makes me comfortable. The downside of finishing a project is the journey ends. Life is all journeys. I struggle with this and need to create more discipline, less journeys, more finished projects. What to do?

Much of my time is spent facilitating photo projects for others. it is what I often do through all seasons. I never push somebody completely out of their comfort zone yet challenge them constructively. Nobody needs to like me for this. Respect is another matter. Seven weeks ago I created a brand new project, committed to it, and finished it yesterday. No almost. Done. Finis. The project? Visit every single sugar shack for breakfast in the Pioneer Valley before end season. One capture only. Click. No looking at image. Eat well. Good Eats! I posted that one image for each venue on FaceBook immediately, sometimes from the parking lot. Yesterday, I captured a second image, one quick capture. There is lots more to life than maple syrup. Now onwards to those uncompleted projects. No worries…purchased lots to bottled maple syrup to last through my future almosts…