Thursday, November 26, 2009

To Shoot An Arrow

There's the old saying, "I shot an arrow into the air, and where it lands, I know not where."

Well, I'm beginning to think maybe we're all arrows, flying through the air, our life paths like an arrow's trajectory, sometimes they hit their bullseye...some just miss the bullseye...some never hit the target at all...and some, well, just misfire....
Sometimes I think that I'm in the 'just missed' category. When you think of all the people who have existed on Earth for thousands of years...all these arrows...who had to endure all of the conditions that would probably scare us today, even if we were hunkered in the relative safety of an RV, the conditions they lived in is astonishing and yet they survived. Arrows, all of them, and even back then, they hit and missed...The one's who hit a bullseye left a mark in history, one way or another...
But then again, maybe 'Arrow' is not the right metaphor for anyone's life path. Because paths can change, sometimes in an instant intervention of fate, either good or bad. And what is 'fate' or 'destiny' really? A notion that everything is pre-ordained maybe? Well that doesn't really make sense. But I understand the notion of fate, most of which is in our own hands, we can control our own destinies to a certain point, and then fate intervenes, if that makes sense...
I remember reading a story from a Herb Caen column about a family who lived in San Rafael, and they moved to San Francisco. They brought their cat with them, but soon after she disappeared, ran away...
Two weeks later she was found back at their old house in Marin...all she wanted to do was go back to the home she knew.
A woman in a car, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge during a windy and rainy night spotted a cat making her way along the bridge, stopping post to post, the poor thing was cold and drenched...
The poor kitty...her fate was to cross that bridge, but her destiny was to end up back in San Francisco...her arrow flew, but changed course.
Right now I can relate to that cat on the bridge, just trying to go back...trying to avoid any pre-ordained destinies, trying to avert the trajectory of her 'arrow'.

3 comments:

  1. OMG! Such a beautiful post!!! I love the "play on arrows"... and I sure hope that little kitty made it over the bridge safely!!! That just broke my heart. Here's a thought. Instead of picturing yourself as an arrow who's destiny is at the hands of the Archer... think of being the Archer.

    Determine your dominant eye... The one most accurate in aiming and judging distances. Wear an arm guard (to protect you of any disappointments, of course, when you wear your emotions on your sleeve)... and then when you're all set.. .stand there.. with feet apart and focus on nothing but the center of the target.

    Focus. Focus. Focus. Where are you headed? Where do you want to be? Focus some more. Maybe you might want to shoot a little higher than what you will settle on. It requires large amounts of concentration. Then... hold your bow towards the target... draw the string back.. and release!

    I promise you... your arrow will shoot through any storm. Even against the mighty winds and rain over the Golden Gate Bridge...

    I'm standing there beside you cheering you on. You can do it! You can do it! You can do it! A new year is about to embark upon us. Make it YOUR year.

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  2. Thanks! What a wonderful way to expand on the Arrow theme! And yes, the kitty did make it across. :o)

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  3. YaaaYyYy!!! Outstanding!!!!! I feel so excited about that kitty!!!

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