Day#3 of Wonder
Today I went on my first Distillery Tour. David, the owner of Feisty Spirits, gives one impressive tour of Fort Collin’s oldest whisky distillery (almost 3 years to the date). His love of the craft is contagious…and he brings to it serious street cred (PHD in engineering and a family background that would make moonshine royalty proud). I asked him if he ever gets surprised when he tastes a batch. He said every batch surprises him.
What a beautiful way to live–develop your craft, and never fail to be surprised.
“I have one talent, and that is the capacity to be tremendously surprised, surprised at life, at ideas. This is to me the supreme Hasidic imperative: Don’t be old. Don’t be stale.” ― Abraham Joshua Heschel
I feel that way, too, when I paint or draw or generally when I create anything. What I end up with is different than what I expected. I think embracing the surprise is my challenge. I hold too tightly to what I think should be there that it either intimidates me away from creating at all or it saps the gratitude and (surprise, surprise) wonder from the finished product. Maintaining control or comfort doesn’t seem to play well with awe and wonder!
Well said, Kristin. That’s so true…control and comfort are such saboteurs of wonder…yet the illusion of them is so enticing. However, I love that we’re invited into risk…and dependence. I suspect God revels in each little creative act, seeing it as a form of surrender. So cheers to being surprised, and giving thanks. Have a stellar Saturday!