It's a game!

When I was taking Symbolic Logic in college, I would be given pages of pairs of "mathematical" looking expressions.  The first of a pair was my given starting point and the second was my conclusion.  My job was to get from one to the other using only the algorithms allowed.  This involved many steps of many symbols and processes.  I could zip through a dozen or two statements towards my goal only to realize I had made a logical error somewhere and would need to start over.  Sometimes I would work my way all the way to the end to find I had argued in a loop and my conclusion looked just like my proposition!  Tedious and frustrating.  It was always so hard to determine the right first step, then the right second step, ad infinitum.  I was struggling badly and completely demoralized.  I decided to visit my professor during office hours...a very absent-minded looking professor...stereotypically shabby with a myopic gaze that never seemed to settle on anything real.  But out of this angel's mouth came words that not only allowed me to pass the class easily, but changed my life (when I would stop to remember them).  He asked me why I was so nervous about the work..I explained that I just didn't seem to be understanding how to proceed logically.  Then he said it (he used a lot more words than this, but it boiled down to):  it's just a game!  You have this starting point and you have to get there; you can use any of these algorithms any way you want.  As long as you don't break any of the rules, you can be as creative or as sparse as you please.  Lightning flashed, dawn broke, birds sang, and the skies opened up...there was no "right" way to solve each problem, one only needed to be logically correct each step, i.e. you just needed an internal consistency as you went along towards the goal. 

That little lesson buried its way into my soul.  When I am most myself, most content, most 
useful, it's because I'm remembering it's just a game. There is no set path (although society may say otherwise) and you only have your own symbols and algorithms to worry about. I have basic rules I must follow, but within that framework, I can get to my goal as plain or as fancy as I want.   Above all, it's just a game.

It is with great joy that I remember this today, because it so nicely dovetails with my SoulArts process.  Something that sometimes feels like onerous burden ("fixing myself") is really just a fun game.  I use my metaphors as my symbols combined with the rigorous algorithms of honesty and unflinching bravery to work, step by messy step, towards the end game.  Thank you Dr. Woodruff!

Sweet sweet raindrops fall

Bending leaf, grass, and blossom

Run faster beetle!