A Steady Drop Shapes the Rock | The Brilliance Mine

A Steady Drop Shapes the Rock

How are caves formed? How did the stunningly beautiful landscapes form, from the Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon (and many more)? Is not from a steady drop of water that shapes the rock?

All these geologic wonders form through a steady drip of water. You could say, maybe the drops are not so steady because it doesn’t rain consistently every day. But on the geological timescale, it is constant. Every year it rains some amount. Each drop of water washes away a bit more. The drop carves out caves and shapes the geologic plateaus into beautiful landscapes.

Like steady water drops, every tiny thing we do consistently, or at least often, leaves its mark.

It is so tempting to say, “Well, doing a tiny thing isn’t big enough; it makes no difference. Then why bother to do it?

That way of thinking is flawed. The raindrop teaches us otherwise.

  • Rarely – almost never – does something extraordinary come from one gigantic heroic act.
  • It is almost always the result of a long series of small, almost unnoticeable action steps. Like raindrops, plop, plop, plop – too many to count.

Writing even a few words of what goes through your mind each day is transformational. You have no idea where it may lead you. Like the raindrops have no idea what beautiful formations they are creating. It will only be after some time that you can step back and say, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming! Look at what emerged!”

That is how I feel about my writing journey now for 142 consecutive days. I didn’t know where it would lead me – or you, who are kind enough to come along, read, comment, and give me hugs and encouragement.

Had I not been writing for these days, I most certainly wouldn’t have written yesterday’s “I have a dream” piece. If you haven’t seen it yet, please take a look and let me know what you think. It literally threw me out of bed at 4 am. Maybe I lost my mind when I wrote it? Yet, I feel inspired, and I credit powers far beyond myself.

In any case, I invite and encourage you to write a little each day. It is one of the simplest (and completely free) ways to extract brilliance from your brain. It is not about being “perfect” or long. “Perfect” does not exist, remember?! “Perfect” is often a subconscious excuse not to start. It is fear-driven (remember, fear stands for “false evidence appearing real”). Your “formations” will form way faster than the Grand Canyon. LOL.

By the way, those of you who have looked into how geologic formations come about might say, “Stephie, don’t you know, it always takes wind, sun, and changing temperatures !” Yes, you are absolutely right. What is the equivalent of these forces in my metaphor?

  1. You might say, one of them is the support by others.
  2. One of them is to declare your intention to others which will create a higher sense of accountability and urgency.
  3. Another is to tap into what is going on in your environment – in your company/organization, with your customers/client, your community (local and beyond).

I’m Curious

  • Will you write a little each day?
  • If you do and then accidentally miss a day, will you resume writing or give up? (I encourage you to do the former :-))

Dr. Stephie

P.S.: I appreciate you commenting and sharing this with others. Thank you!

Stephie Althouse

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