To take another step towards making sense of what this (the big this) is all about, I humbly submit the following hypothesis for your consideration. It is the latest in a series of attempts to justify, explain, describe or rationalize the meaning behind the daily semi-literary self-floggings known as this blog.
Our leadoff hitter is the scrappy disciplinarian, a singles hitter with good speed known as Mr. Ritual. His philosophical approach is one of consistency. He shows up every day ready to go to work, fully committed to the process of continual improvement. He makes all the routine plays and occasionally a spectacular one. He offers encouragement and the advice of his experience to his mates. He is the grizzled veteran, a leader by example who will gladly risk life or limb for the success of his team. He wears number one on his back. He is where we start.
Next is old Mr. Crafty. He is not gifted with superlatives, the five gifts bestowed upon him by the twins DNA and hard work neither overloaded or undervalued, he just does everything well. Or well enough, because the areas where he is lacking is more than countered by his cleverness, cunning and bravado. He is master of the detail. He knows you as a competitor more than you know yourself and will exploit that intelligence when most necessary for victory. The head game is his forte. He will get under your skin and dare you to remain calm as the heat increases. He keeps his cleats as sharp as his tongue.
Heart of the order. Three, four and five. Heavy hitters, gamers, RBI guys. They strike out way more than they walk-off as heroes and that is quite OK. They drive runners home by power not finesse. They do not bunt. They are fully cognizant that if you hit the ball far enough you can WALK around the bases. In a game where the object is to score more runs than your opponents, they provide the juice.
The traits and talents of the top of the baseball lineup is a perfect metaphor for our purposes today.
Discipline means being ready and doing it everyday. That is how we improve, by finding the strength to endure and, ready or not, do what must be done. In this case that means to write.
Once the discipline of the daily writing ritual is ingrained, we get to start having some fun. We allow ourselves to unleash the creative. To lift the lid on the Pandora’s Box of exploration. To welcome the muse into the light of our broken darkness. Sometimes this can be frustratingly painful, as the creative waters are often dammed up and stagnant. But we carry on and trust the process. And amazingly the magic works almost as often as it does’t.
At the heart of the matter, the big gun - big run producers, dig in to demonstrate that the greatest elegance is simplicity, the simplicity to notice our awareness and report our findings. That is the batting practice right-down-the-middle fastball we have been waiting for all game. Notice what is happening and comment. See ball - hit ball. And then share it with our teammates, and the fans in the cheap seats, and then the audience watching at home and then all the folks reading about it the next day in the sports pages.
We share so that others (our mates and everyone else) can see the process and emulate the courage to practice, the dedication to risk and the hope of a better outcome today than yesterday’s ugly loss.
For when we see these powerful traits in others, the courage to speak up against evil and the skill to enact change, it makes it easier for others to do likewise. EVERY SINGLE TIME.
And that my friends is why we have the game, and the writers who write about it.
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