The secret of mastery

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

This story will be poorly understood by those who have not read The Accidental Encounter.

Many people with whom I had the pleasure to communicate, too often give not entirely correct assessments of the complexity of the activities of other people, and incorrectly compare their qualities and skills with the qualities and skills of these people. So, for example, I have to often hear indignation with the following content: "but why others do it so easily, but I need to sit five times longer to do the same?" and this skill, but I can’t do anything - I get down to business, I try, I try and I understand that I can’t do anything,”or even“why is everyone around me so independent, they can do so many things, but I'm like an idiot, I can’t do anything, I know nothing?"

Such thoughts, I will not hide, once visited me. But the difference between me and the interlocutors who complain to me is that I deal with this problem and deal with it, it would seem, so successfully that outwardly it seems that I have no such problems at all. But what is the real cost of this visibility? Do you want me to tell you?

But read carefully. Will it not turn out that in fact I am a failure, and those who come to confess to me are very versatile and talented people. So, I share my seeming "skill".

First of all, I must admit that the word "skill" is a big word, but, really, I could not write "the secrets of depicting the appearance of a successful person" or "the secrets of successful imitation of versatile activities." May I be the "master"? At least in quotes. This way you will better understand my problem and be able to look at yours differently.

Now I will try to show by my own example that I personally do not even the best crafts with extraordinary effort. I will show this using my stories as an example. While the outstanding graphomaniacs of our time are writing their novels, I can kill the same amount of time for one unhappy paragraph of text or a simple story. Do you think I'm exaggerating? In part, yes, but in moderation.

For example, an unusual event happened, or a simple but instructive thought came to mind. Inspired by the depth of the meaning of this event or this idea, I begin to try to express this meaning with artistic images, some somewhere fictional, somewhere half-truthful plot in order to convey a rather difficult idea as correctly as possible. So, first try.

On a warm summer morning, the young man was strolling through the park. There was a bench not far from the path, and a girl was sitting on it. The girl looked closely at the young man who was passing by at that moment. The guy stopped, catching her eye, then walked over to the bench and sat down next to her.

- Waiting for me? the young man asked.

- You. I have a question, but I didn't know who could answer it.

- I can, - the guy said, - ask.

“That's it,” I thought, after rereading what I had written, “I need to start over, this nonsense is unpleasant even for myself to read.” I am writing the second option next to the first, but I do not delete the first one just in case.

A young girl came to this park every morning, sat on the same bench and waited for something. She did not yet understand exactly who she was waiting for, but she felt that it was as if she needed to wait exactly here for what she wanted.

“Yeah … it's a shame to show it too; All over again . The third option.

She didn't have long to wait … Sooner or later, the young man she was waiting for had to appear in this park, and now he was already walking in her direction …

"B.. I, this is not funny, - I thought, without even re-reading the piece, - again!"

On this day, something unusual always happens, but this event is perceived with all this as a completely ordinary phenomenon. For example, the following happened today. The young man moved intently through the park. He was actively thinking about something and seemed to be conducting a rather fierce internal dialogue. Having walked in this way to the place of events, he suddenly slowed down his pace, relaxed the concentrated features of his face and, as if reassured by the solution of his inner problem, resolutely but calmly went on.

A girl was sitting on a bench not far from the park path. She looked at the young man with some interest and sought an answering glance. The young man looked at her, and the girl smiled, as if inviting to sit next to her.

The young man approached the bench and sat down next to the girl.

- Have you been waiting for me for a long time? he asked immediately.

- For a long time, - answered the girl, - you could have appeared earlier.

“Well, it’s not that, not so, it’s wrong, too playful, vulgar, even somewhat mechanical,” I thought, “again, at first.”

This went on for a very long time. Ten? Twenty? No, there are many more options, many of which were not even written down, they were scrolled and rejected right in my head while I was at home, walking or doing other simple work. Many days have passed, many hours of fruitless efforts. Then, finally, something began to emerge. I realized that it was better then to write even closer to reality, that is, from the first person, as it really was.

Moving along the usual route through the park, I noticed a girl sitting on a bench, but contrary to my own expectations, I began to examine her face more carefully, and did not turn away, walking calmly further, as I usually did in such cases. The girl noticed me and greeted me.

- Hello. - I answered. - Allow me?

- Sit down, - answered the girl, - I've been waiting for you for a long time.

- I see I had to stay late. - I realized to answer, not quite yet understanding what exactly she was waiting for.

“I’m waiting for a man,” the girl began, as if guessing my tacit question, “who will be able to answer one rather strange question, the answer to which I personally cannot find.

“Well, it's better, but it's still somehow childishly naive, the words are repeated, the artificiality can’t be put anywhere,” I decided, “I’ll try first.” Having fiddled for some time, rearranging words, constantly looking into punctuation dictionaries, choosing synonyms and rereading everything two hundred times, I have already written a somewhat more suitable version.

Today I was in a surprisingly good mood, and for this reason alone this day could not be called ordinary. On the way home from work, I decided to walk through the park and let my nerves finally escape from the exhausting tension. I definitely decided that I would do something unusual today, not typical for me, and the girl who was sitting on the bench by the path I was walking along very well suited my intentions. Coming closer, I greeted:

- Hello, - I said, - may I sit next to you?

- Hello, - the girl answered cheerfully, - sit down, please.

I sat down and began to figure out what to do next, and the girl was clearly expecting something unusual, apparently, and she, too, was in a special mood today.

- I see you have been waiting for me for a long time. - I said, not coming up with anything more original.

“You’re right, I’m really waiting, but I don’t know if you. - the girl began without much surprise. - I am waiting for a person who will help me deal with one unusual problem that I cannot deal with on my own.

- In that case, - I was delighted, - we did not meet by chance. I was just walking and wondering if I could help someone figure out an unusual problem that a person cannot figure out on his own.

- Truth? - the girl was delighted. - Maybe, if I'm going to entrust you with a part of my inner experiences, I could then turn to each other on "you"?

- Of course, what's your name? I asked.

- Nadia. - the girl answered shortly.

- My name is Artyom, - I smiled back, - tell us about your problem before we got to know each other very well, because otherwise it will be more difficult for you to express it the more you learn about me. After all, you know that it is easier for a stranger to speak out, and then it is easier to part with him, as if leaving the problem with him.

- Yes, Artyom, - the girl answered with surprise, - you definitely caught my intention for this day, and I am very surprised that you appeared exactly when I wanted it. Apparently, you really are the same person. Then listen to my problem as soon as possible.

- I listen to you very carefully, Nadia.

- Artyom, the fact is that I'm a fool … Just don't laugh!

- Nadya, I'm not laughing, - I was indignant with a serious face, trying not to smile, - you are saying a very important thing, please continue.

“I don’t understand why I’m such a fool. I tried to ask my friends, close friends, my parents, even went to the Internet with this question - and you know what !?

- What? - I asked in surprise, pretending not to know what she saw there, although in fact I knew very well.

- There, when typing a query in the search bar, when you write “why am I like this,” he immediately offers a choice of automatic filling of the form with the words “fool”, “stupid”, “terrible”, etc. That is, this question, apparently, so popular that even a search engine offers similar options right away …

- And what, then, is unusual in your question, if it is so popular and seemingly ordinary? - I interrupted the girl.

- And it’s unusual that all my friends asked themselves this question, and even on the Internet it goes like a popular one, since it automatically appears, which means they had to answer it somehow. Such an important question, there is so much discussion about it, but there is no answer! Do you understand, Artyom? This is also unusual. I am not so much now puzzled by this question as by why, with such a large-scale discussion and with such popularity, it remains unanswered.

- Maybe because the answer to the question is known, it is "42", but people are unhappy with this answer? - I suggested.

- You mean that the problem is in the question itself? That there is no question as such?

- Not really, I think that everyone knows the answer very well, it has a universal character, but people do not like it, therefore it is not discussed. They expect from the answer that its mere presence will solve their problem, while one answer is not enough, certain actions are needed. They do not take the correct answer for the answer, because from knowing this answer they do not cease to be fools.

- Interesting … Explain, please. - asked the girl.

- With pleasure, - I said, already having in my head the general plan of the answer.

I talked about how many people think that having some knowledge about something immediately solves the corresponding problem. As examples, I cited those moments that I most often encountered myself. A person wants to know what freedom is in order to become free, but if you tell him the definition of this term, he will not become free, since for this you need to perform some completely meaningful actions. A person wants to know what truth is, believing that then he will know the truth, but the definition of truth will only bring him disappointment if he does not figure out what to do with this definition. One of the most common questions: "how to learn to motivate yourself?" in general, it seems, they are asked to do nothing further, being satisfied with the available set of psychotechnics and other motivation techniques from the series “35 correct ways …”. A person is always looking for a magic button, by clicking on which, without doing anything else, you can get the desired result. Thus, the question "why am I such a fool?" although it is sometimes asked in order to stop being a fool, the correct answer to this question will not make a girl smart, reasonable or otherwise the opposite of who she considers herself to be. What is needed is not the answer itself, but actions that eliminate the cause, or lead to the desired result. People are looking for a magic solution and want, on the one hand, to leave their shortcomings in place, and, on the other, to make sure that the consequences of these shortcomings are not noticed by anyone, not even themselves.

Nadia was silent for a while, peering at the pattern of pebbles and streams of water on the park path, and then said:

- Yes, Artyom, I understand what you want to say, these girls, and I am with them, - we really do not want to become different, change ourselves, we seem to want to get an answer to the question "why am I a fool?", so as not to be such, but in fact, if we know the answer, we will not do absolutely anything that we should do from this answer. We will continue to seek each other's support, discussing over and over again anything but the right answer, spending many hours looking for excuses for our position and crying, crying, crying … We just want to cry. Understand?

- I understand, Nadia. - I just wanted to continue the thought in this vein. You see, when you ask this question, you girls often want to receive consolation, compassion or even praise in return for this "deep" form of self-flagellation, and sometimes even to assume a martyr's image of a person who is not understood by anyone with a rich inner world. You expect to be answered, they say, "no, you're not a fool, in fact, you are blah blah blah …" and some romantic poeb …

- Artyom, how do you communicate with a girl !? - restraining laughter exclaimed Nadya.

- Nadya, you said yourself that you were a fool. How else can I handle you? - a little bewildered, I began to make excuses, - You do not think that you deserve from me such verbiage "consolation" for failed girls?

- No, I was just surprised that it was you who, for some reason, absolutely rightly approached my situation. Or do you think that the fool can be surprised in some other way? - Nadia did not remain in debt.

- Okay, I'm glad, - I continued cautiously, but immediately regained the same confidence, - so, Nadya, you are a fool, because you ask this question for the same reasons that millions of losers around the world ask themselves this question. question, you're not going to look for an answer at all, and they are not going to. You just need to talk about it, pour out your soul, which has not found the opportunity to pour out in some other way precisely because you are fools. You are fools because you are looking for the opportunity for your spiritual self-realization not where you should look for it. You are fools because you ask this question at all. If a girl asks others why she is such a fool, then she is a fool that is why, if she asks why she is a loser, then she is a loser, which is why, if she asks why something doesn’t work out for her, then she doesn’t succeed that is why. - I continued to enter more and more into the role of a mentor, dissatisfied with my student, realizing that the girl needs this, that she, having received an honest and appropriate answer for her situation, will then leave and never see me again, getting rid of the need to be angry with me, because I am a complete stranger to her. - You need to ask this question, Nadia, to yourself, and you yourself should seek the answer to it, without resorting to the help of other people, from whom you are actually looking for consolation and support, because other people do not necessarily want to find the correct answer. You need not seek comfort, but act in accordance with a gradual understanding of the true causes of your problem. You need to be able to face the truth, and not be consoled by the fact that this question is popular and that it does not seem to have an answer.

“Well, it’s somehow much better, although far from what I wanted,” I thought, rereading the written piece and correcting the style flaws. - you can continue in the given format."

Nadya again sat silently, looking, this time, straight ahead, but her gaze was turned rather inside her own thoughts. She closed her eyes and leaned forward a little, clutching the edge of the bench with her hands, and sat there for a while.

Nadya was sitting, very slightly swaying back and forth on the bench, as if calming down. Then she straightened up, opened her eyes and smiled. She turned half a turn to me and said:

- Yes, Artyom, I see that you have already understood a lot since the time you were hired to study. It is not in vain that we have invested certain, albeit small, forces in you.

I didn’t show that I was surprised, as the situation immediately became completely clear to me.

- You already feel what exactly you need to create? What exactly will you write about in your most important work?

“I think I have felt it for a long time,” I replied calmly, not knowing, however, for sure whether my voice was calm. - For many years I have been keeping in my head the thought that …

- Don't go on, - interrupted Nadya, - we shouldn't know about it, it should be completely your work, and, discussing it with others, you will lose those independent thoughts that will make up the main idea. Communication with other people, especially girls, will lead you to the correct understanding, suggest the right thoughts, but you should not spread your own ideas of assembling this experience into the final result ahead of time, this will entail interference of such a scale that you do not even know about now. I came here on her assignment - you know who I mean. I came to check the result of your development and warn you about what I just said.

- I already understood, tell her, please, thank you very much for the work done. And I express my gratitude to you too.

- I will definitely pass it on. You are welcome. And by the way, you were still able to tell me something interesting that I myself did not think about in this matter, and I am sure you could say even more if I didn’t have to leave now.

- Contact. - I tried to laugh it off.

- Goodbye, Artyom, - said Nadia, smiling and getting up from the bench, - keep trying, you are moving in the right direction.

Nadya calmly walked along the park path. She walked without turning around, without haste, until she disappeared around the bend, and until her figure disappeared behind the tall bushes growing on the sides of the road going to the left. I looked after her for a long time, sitting on the bench on which Dara and I were sitting together eleven years ago.

When I got home, I wanted to record this event, but it was always nonsense. Words did not add up, stylistic constructions were more like the compositions of a schoolchild who passed the Unified State Exam in the Russian language by 100 points, rather than elements of literate artistic writing. Several days of various attempts to write at least the first paragraph seemed to have already hinted that it was not necessary to write it down, I already began to doubt that I could do it at all. Why am I such a loser !? I suddenly asked myself.

Having asked this question, I decided that I should at least answer it. Sitting down again at the computer and setting the designated goal, I typed in my text editor "The Secret of Mastery" and double-clicked on Enter.