by Lynx » Sun May 05, 2019 10:00 am
Hi L,
I think Carl Jung used this story to point out it's our intuition and unconscious (unc.) skills which completes the work. The cobbler hadn't depended on the elves, as we can't depend on our unc.—they came when they wanted to on their own and left when their work was celebrated. And at the end of the story he competently carries on without them.
I love your poem about dashing after butterflies. That's the other call of ourselves—away from what we promised ourselves just yesterday.
I'm now very busy with paid work. Not the case 3 years ago. So when I reflect on the unc. parts to this current period I'm grateful for these "elves" being of help: keeping me in friendship/touch with someone who now refers and invites me into exciting opportunities; saying 'yes' when my finances were rock bottom to a trip to co-work with this friend in California. What was interesting is that he gifted me the airfare because he strongly felt I should be there as a support for him! A few months later my finances improves and I repaid the airfare over lunch which I also paid for, as the cobbler made clothes for the generous elves.
Another interesting elf side of myself plays bridge. While playing just two times at a senior center, I got in touch with an old colleague who needed my help. Have been consulting steady since, and am now invited to write myself into her next grant proposal. This elf is vacationing while I get work done.
I also find that many nights I don't have an idea how I'll manage all this new, and hard, work coming at the same time. But, like the cobbler, when I've felt I've done all I can for the day, I set matters aside and get my rest. I awaken and the 'elves' have been busy; one morning it's advising me to hire an assistant (I did) another I woke up with a trick to transcribe an audio file (didn't quite work). But they're active.
Bounding after butterflies (or should it be flutterbies can be a fun break. Then I turn to Mr. Robert Frost:
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
And now I'm finding every day a back & forth between sticking to the work or fleeing into fun! Not easy, this stuff.
Lynx
"Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs." Vaclav Havel