Have you ever noticed that in one of those connect the dots pictures, the image is already clear before you begin? There is no other path to take but the one that makes the puppy become clear.
Life isn’t like that. Life is more like a Jackson Pollock painting and you have to figure out where the dots are and what image they form as you connect them.
Making the puppy is so much easier. There is no thought in that – no real way to get it wrong – it will always look like a puppy. Jackson Pollock is tough – that requires some serious contemplation and a high likelihood that your picture will not look like anyone else’s. Ever.
My life is clearly a Jackson Pollock.
As I am connecting my dots, there are parts that might seem like they don’t belong in the same painting. But, I am connecting all of the things that I love into one piece. Maybe it’s more of a mixed media piece, but I will be able to say that my art and my life are connected.
My calendar is my canvas – I map out the goals I have, the work I am doing to move toward those goals, and the expected income from that work on my “challenge calendar,” as my leadership coach calls it. This is a completely different way of thinking than just getting up and going to work and handling whatever problems come your way. It is purposeful, focused, goal-oriented, and connected.
There are still days that I long for the ease of the connect the dots lifestyle. There is a safety and a security in that consistency. But, the investment I am making into structuring my goals and building my own capacity to sustain those goals gives me the ability to live my values and my own right livelihood.
So, today, I will write. I will develop a leadership training. And I will show houses. My dots connect for me, even if others have tilt their head to make sense of it.
And who knows – maybe I am making a masterpiece.