I think, sometimes that it is easy to see a crack. To follow that crack – see where it branches out and the possible spin-offs – to look at the spin-offs and where they lead. To see a blemished whole. To see a failing of some sort.
I’ve done it. And it is a very scary and adrenalin-fuelled way to live. I think there can be a sort of addictive thrill (even if it isn’t a conscious one) in balancing on the edge of something. Trouble is, a power-surge like that burns you out and leaves you exhausted instead of ready for the next challenge – which you expect will be imminent. And because you are expecting it, it will be imminent – at the supermarket, an accident waiting to happen, a slight, a miscalculation. You knew it.
I read recently that the secret to getting over this pattern is to look at the facts. Just the immediate facts and carry on. Don’t follow that crack in other words. If the bowl is still whole, it is whole. There is no spin-off, and the crack (if there is one) may be only on the surface. Adding to life’s experiences and making a beautiful pattern in retrospect that let other things into your life that you never expected.
And I love a bit of crazing in the glaze.
The cracks tell us much about ourselves in terms of which ones we follow and those we choose to ignore. They make life quite exciting as they’e unexpected with many twists and turns – like a ‘choose your own adventure’.
We’re all cracked anyway;)