Surrender
Give a Little
Dear Friends,
This week’s letter is inspired by Hooke’s Law — a physics concept that states: The force of an extended spring is equivalent to how far it is stretched. Physics is a s-t-r-e-t-c-h for my mind and so is origami. Origami, what? Let me explain…
I came across the subject of Hooke’s Law in The Rise by Sarah Lewis. The author noted that the law can be applied to humans, as well as to springs. She said: To convert our own energy and operate at full force, often we must first surrender. I surrender all of the time. Why in the last two days, I’ve had to surrender past knowledge, a fruitless mission and a failed project.
Past knowledge: Did you know Dr. Paul Muller was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1948 for his discovery and experimentation with the chemical DDT? I didn’t. His efforts were instrumental in combating the spread of typhus and malaria during WWII. I’d only known that DDT was held responsible for landing the American Bald Eagle on the endangered species list. When you give yourself over to curiosity, you often find information that broadens your knowledge base. Hello Stranger ….a story about bald eagles and DDT.
Fruitless Mission: Do you recall animals that sat atop thick coiled metal springs on playgrounds? Children could rock back and forth because of the stretch, surrender and force of a spring? In the not so distant past, I remember sitting on one or two — maybe three. Yesterday I visited more than three playgrounds in hopes of snapping a photo to lend visual context to Hooke’s Law. I only found one remaining. It was a chipped, dull grey, sad looking bear. It sits not on a spring, but on a c-curved band of metal. Foiled, I surrendered the mission, queried springs on my smart phone and found a video tutorial. That’s it! I’ll craft an origami paper spring.
Failed Project: I stretched myself and tried to make an origami spring for you — just a little outside of my skill set. The tutorial is 17 minutes long. My neatly trimmed and folded piece of paper became uncooperative at five minutes and thirty four seconds. I kept backing up the video — observe, try, repeat. About half an hour in, I surrendered with the knowledge that frustration was not going to help me write this letter. I did copy a number of the comments sparked from the video onto my failed attempt and photographed my effort. The crayfish in the photo? I made that years ago. Cute, right?
What do you think about surrendering so that you can stretch yourself?
Here’s hoping one of the resources below will lead you on a curious exploration.
Please take what serves you and leave the rest behind. Know that if you reach out to me, I’ll reach back. Connection is what this is all about.
Joyfully,
Gail
I’ve started a bi-weekly newsletter. I promise to keep it short and impactful. Above is the intro from this weeks letter. If your inbox can hold one more connection, know that I’ll be working hard to offer big bang for your reading minutes, along with links to expand your own curious explorations. :) Sign up here.
