The Power of the Little White Stool: Perspective

Have you ever tried to search for something on a top shelf when you were too short to reach up that far?    

    

You cannot grasp what you need, let alone see, so you fumble around wishing your fingers had eyeballs.    

    

I keep a little white stool alongside my refrigerator for times like these.    

    

Unfolded and butted up against the cupboard, this handy tool provides a couple of extra steps, just enough for a higher elevation. I ascend her sturdy frame and easily look through the contents on the shelf. If the item is there, I whisper “yes” and go on with my cooking. If the item is not there, I moan and grab my car keys.    

 

Whether or not I find what I am searching for pales in comparison to the advantage this perspective provides. From only a few extra steps up, I can take an inventory of all those goods stashed out-of-the-way. On many an occasion, I end up checking dates, tossing out the old, and organizing the new.    

Last night before I went to sleep, I mulled over my next-best-writing-step. I need help with pulling all of my various projects together into some sort of cohesive plan. I’ve decided to attend a weekend writing seminar in October to work through one of my manuscripts. I’m even considering hiring a writing coach. My thinking goes something like this, My writing is growing up the fence of my life, and I need a little help keeping the unruly branches trellised.    

    

I awoke in the early morning hours with this little riddle floating through my mind:    

“The power of the little white stool: perspective.”    

I laid there in bed contemplating the meaning. Hmmmm… how is my little white stool like perspective? What helps me reach a little further? What assists me in organizing the flowering vines of words?    

    

Writing is definitely one of the tool that helps me climb up a little bit higher so I can gain a clearer view. Writing identifies those uneasy feelings swimming around in my chest like an oversized fish in an undersized aquarium. This process proves essential when I contemplate the many possible choices I can make. People suggest so many different ways I can pursue my aspirations. Finding the snug fit feels much like groping around on the top shelf.    

Writing is my contribution to a collaboration in which God responds by providing wisdom. I open my mind and heart to possibilities, and He leads me to the resources and people I need. The words grow, bloom, and multiply.    

    

Other writers provide perspective as well. Those I have met through blogging, conferences, and books. I have even reconnected with friends from years ago who have also pursued a writer’s life. Their encouragement helps me to get “unstuck” and move my talents further.    

    

We aspiring writers are eager consumers. We buy books, join online communities, attend conferences, and hire specialists to acquire pieces of the publishing puzzle. Anyone who has participated in these ventures will tell you the selection is vast and overwhelming. Experts offer contradictory advice; yet at the end of the day, what we all long for is the power of the little white stool, perspective. May some grace your life with light and bouquets of possibility.    

  

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