“Love a horse and talk to plumbers. Ask questions of everybody and don’t hide your ignorance, for ignorance is simply the unlit side of curiosity and the outside of the door to wisdom and knowledge. Be a limitless person to others and maybe you will stretch them more than your art does. Let’s hope.”
– Harold Best’s letter to artists as recorded in Scribbling in the Sand by Michael Card
The entire letter Harold Best wrote is too long to quote, but this part was my favorite. It came on the tail end of his encouraging the reader to be open to learning about things outside of their own natural interests and specialties. He reminds us to take our head out of the middle of our own projects and pursuits long enough to learn about owls, race cars, geography, the law of gravity, spit.
This both overwhelms and delights me.
As my youngest enters kindergarten next week, I think of all the things I want him to learn, things I want to teach him, things the world wants to teach him.
I pray he never forgets his questions and curiosity.
I pray I don’t forget mine, either.
I’m not exactly sure what it means to love a horse and talk to plumbers in the midst of the everyday life stuff, in the midst of just finally figuring out that thing I really want to do, in the midst of learning my own art and being brave enough to share it, in the midst of junk mail and school supplies.
It must have to do with gratitude, with seeing beyond my own obsessions, with being present in the moments and not always consumed with me and mine.
What are some ways you love a horse and talk to plumbers? Or maybe you love a plumber and talk to a horse?
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