I don't think I need to say anything about this most remarkable man through whose initial research we have satellite communication.
The first of his books I can remember reading is Childhood's End.
He said:
The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.
We can become complacent, don't you think? Comfortable in what we know as possible. We can become convinced there is only this way or that way and we can become stuck. Thank goodness there are people out there who routinely open up the boxes we live in and let in the sunlight, else we might all stagnate and sink into the mud of our mundane lives and disappear entirely.
I personally am stretching the limits of what I know with my mentorship with Angela at The Bookshelf Muse. She has cast all sorts of light all over my manuscript, lighting up corners and cracks, exposing all sorts of minor and major flaws. I can't say it's easy, because it isn't. I've never done this kind of intense rewrite/revision before. As difficult as it sometimes gets for me, it's a good thing. I am pushing limits, expanding, stepping out of the box and in the process learning it isn't impossible after all.
What limits have you explored lately? What possibilities have you found in the impossible?
Oh, I'm a Clarke fan, have been forever. Thanks for his wonderfully inspiring quote.
ReplyDeleteBish,
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of when my oldest was in 2nd grade. Her teacher told her "she would never accomplish anything because she was a dreamer."
She came home crushed and repeated the statement to me. "I won't be able to do anything. I'm dreaming all the time."
I could have pointed out her top scores and good grades...despite living in a totally new language (for the 3rd time).
Instead I told her, "Dreamers are the ones who make things happen. Dreamers are the ones who create new things."
Thanks for reminding me --- we never know what is possible until we try!!!
"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." - St. Francis of Assisi
ReplyDeleteThat's the quote I love. As to your direct question -- I find that even though I'm weak, I have found strength in the good Lord to do even the impossible.
Hi Bish, I've just read your post about your Dad. What a brilliant man and so interesting.
ReplyDeleteGreat quote. I feel like every day, trying to get published, is stretching into the impossible!
ReplyDelete