Aim Past the Wood

I don’t think most of you reading this chop wood that often, I hope that some of you have, nonetheless, done so once or twice, and that all of us can at least picture the endeavor. I have had to chop wood myself, and I can say with certainty borne from experience that it is not an exactly enjoyable affair, especially if you don’t know how to do it in the first place, or if you are aware that there’s something much better and easier you would rather be doing at that time.

Photo by Zhivko Minkov on Unsplash

Whilst reading Annie Dillard’s book ‘The Writing Life’― very relatable in its exploration of how bleak the life of any serious writer is― I came across this evocative encouragement. Aim for the chopping block. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it? Well, the idea here is that when you chop wood, you don’t just aim at the wood you are chopping, but at what’s beyond it, beneath it. That means that if you are chopping wood on the ground, you aim for the ground beneath the wood. I thought this brought a little bit of perspective to the goals most of us have in life. For most people, what matters is they accomplish their goals, nothing more. What if there could be something more than just the goals?

Brianna Wiest argues in 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think that, achieving goals is not success, how much we expand in the process is. For all we are doing, what will matter in the end is not just the goals we accomplished but the people we became in the process. Only focusing on goals is being too superficial, content with a surface view of the ocean when there’s a much more amazing sight in the depths.

While we think about this technique of chopping wood, the popular quote about shooting for the stars, so that even if we miss, we can still land on the moon ends up making much more sense, now that we can think of it reasonably. You treat the wood as a transparent means to an end, by aiming past it.

And there are ladies whose hearts you win by focusing on something more than the lady herself, something beyond her. In the end, you become a better person, and you ‘bag’ her in the process. In simple terms, you work diligently on yourself to be worthy of her, and then maybe she just may have to be worthy of you as well. For my fellow medics, you could aim for something beyond a mere grade on a paper, you could instead focus on treating your patient right, on getting them the care they so much deserve. It’s not exactly good grades that will make your patient happy, but should you focus on the latter, good grades will not be so much hard to attain.

When you keep the bigger thing in mind, the smaller things give way. Don’t be too superficial. Aim for the chopping block, if you aim for the wood, you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim through the wood; aim for the chopping block.

References

1. The Writing Life by Annie Dillard.

2. 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest