Breaking the Ice

Today I was chipping ice from the driveway and it got me thinking about all of the things that have been on my mind for quite a while now.

I like performing manual work. I have inherited that from my Dad, who is at his happiest in the yard. I remember the last time I was in Peoria to help Mom and Dad move to their new place. When I arrived, my dad handed me a rake and said “we need to go clear behind the fence because we’re showing the house this weekend.” At the time, I found it to be a bit ridiculous, to be honest, because not only was it behind the house, outside of the fence, but the house was being shown, and would likely be sold in a short amount of time.

This memory came back to me today as I was in the driveway chipping away the ice from our recent storm. Lately I have been doing some deep introspection about my Self, my path, and where I want to be headed in this life. I have been learning about the concept of limiting beliefs, and how these beliefs might be holding me back from realizing my true calling - and purpose. These limiting beliefs are engrained in each of us from childhood and I am just beginning the hard work of identifying and uncovering and confronting them - “chipping away” at them, if you like.

I had a big realization while I was chipping the ice. I realized that many times in my life when things were tough or overwhelming I would head to the yard or to my desk, and would immerse myself in work - often for its own sake - without a real end goal in mind.

Pattie jokes with me often about when the kids were little and how great our yard looked. I realize why this is so - it was very easy for me to head out (escape!) into the yard because it’s where I felt in control. I was comfortable there, toiling away towards perfection of my own making and on my own terms. It was manageable, satisfying and most importantly, it was a distraction from the larger issues that I felt were too big or too difficult or too overwhelming to confront.

I realized that this is the very reason that Dad found solace in the yard - toiling away on his own terms in a World that was increasingly difficult to engage with or to change. I think all of us have that tendency - I certainly do.

Power has become increasingly concentrated, and inaccessible to most of us - at least that is what we have led to believe, and have been conditioned to accept. I am increasingly becoming aware of this, and I am seeking ways in which to reassert some measure of control, to do the good work that will bring happiness, and perhaps most importantly, to help others to do the same - creating the type of world in which we all wish to live. To take back some measure of power over our own lives.

Back to the ice. It’s 3 inches thick on the driveway and I’m only one person with a bad back so I have to approach it methodically. Certainly if I had access to a roofing torch or in-slab radiant heating or heavy equipment, it would be an easy job, but I don’t have any of those. I need to work with what I have and what I’ve been afforded - my “appropriate technology” if you will (with apologies to E.F. Schumacher!) - so I start chipping away at the edges.

The edges are where things happen - look at the natural world. The edges are where lichens break down huge granite boulders into soil over time, ushering in the succession of plants and the animals to follow. These edges are called “ecotones,” and it is here where life happens. It is at the edge that I choose to attack the ice, so, working methodically, one shovel blow at a time, I make steady progress.

I think that’s the big realization that I came to today, there in my driveway, chipping away at the ice. It’s from the edges, with small but impactful blows in steady succession, that seemingly insurmountable challenges are overcome. The ice is broken. The driveway is clear, ensuring safe passage.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the importance of salt. The salt is a key component of this process, and yesterday I got a glimpse into where we are as a society, and where a shift needs to happen as well. I was out of rock salt, having walked past it dozens of times when there was no ice saying to myself “I’ll buy it later. I have plenty of time.” Well, later came and I, like everyone else, needed a bag. So I went to Kent and it just so happened that a shipment of salt had just arrived. I rushed back to the lumberyard and was able to grab two bags from the rapidly dwindling pallet. I could see several people coming out with cartloads full and knew that the people behind me were going to be out of luck.

This gets into the unfair distribution of wealth and resources in our World, but I’ll leave that discussion for another time. Suffice it to say that we all need to be laying the groundwork for the inevitable storm that’s coming (that is already upon us, in fact.) We are woefully unprepared.

Back to the salt. What is our metaphorical “salt” in this life? How can we begin prepping for the work that needs to be done?

I’ll meet you at the edge and we’ll start chipping away!