A sword isn’t any good as a dull lump of metal. It’s the process of sword-making that makes a good sword – and that process is hardcore.
You take a piece of metal and put it into the fire.
You take it out of the fire and hit it with a huge, heavy hammer – multiple times.
You dunk it in water.
And repeat the process until that dull lump becomes a strong, shiny, sharp sword.
It’s not easy to become a sword. Spending all that time being scalded, dunked, and beaten makes you want to wall off, to disappear, even to break – anything to make it stop. But if you survive, when you make it through, you become something beautiful, useful, balanced.
As a lump of metal, you’re not doing much. But as you become a sword, you manifest.
Hardship makes us who we are. It shapes us. The difficult times give us strength, help us make and deepen connections. It brings us together, gives us something to bond over. It gives an individual the means to become part of a community. Broken hearts mend, and the scars – eventually – enrich our beings.
Without being laid on the forge, we will never become what we are most capable of being.
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Nice metaphor!
I love the metaphor. You’re right, it’s hardcore.
You need to get into the fire.
“Broken hearts mend, and the scars – eventually – enrich our beings.”
To an extent. But I have found that my damage and others’ often gets in the way of good, healthy relationships, creating fears and suspicions where none should be, distorting our perceptions. I don’t feel that my traumas have made me beautiful or balanced; I guess you could say I’ve developed a little more compassion for the outcast, but it’s certainly not what happens to every traumatized person. Many just go on to inflict pain on others.
That is a great metaphor. Wow. Good timing – thank you.
.-= Andy Hayes´s last blog ..Cardiff, Wales: A City of Castles and Arcades =-.
Thanks… as someone being ‘laid on the forge’ right now, this was actually really comforting to read.
Kyeli!
On the one hand, yes–great metaphor!
On the other, it seems to point very much to an “If it doesn’t hurt it must not be good for you” attitude, which is very prominent in our culture today.
As someone who has spent her life glorying in the pain of being forged, partly because I really believe what you’re saying is true, but also partly to have my pain feel justified/validated (ouch! talk about full self-honesty there!)…well, now I’m realizing that pain isn’t **always** required to make progress in life (on any front).
So where should we draw the line between facing life’s difficulties head-on and looking for easier, less painful ways to get through some things?
I think this is a hard question to answer, and everyone will answer it differently. But I’m curious about your take on it!
.-= Michelle Russell´s last blog ..How to Find Your Desk Again (or Spare Bed, or Table…) =-.
Hmm, well… hmm.
If we were the ones forging ourselves, then sure, absolutely. It’d be like questioning our assumptions about the limits we’ve set on ourselves. Sometimes we find our current capabilities don’t fit with the limits we thought we had, either because we can now bend further or not as far as before.
If others are forging us, or even if life itself is supposedly doing it, then that just comes across as trying to cram us into a mold for their own interests without collaborating with us on the matter.
In that case, I’d rather transmute myself into another substance that melted too soon so as to slip away. Or become denser and heavier so as to be not worthwhile of their effort. In that way, I’d be transforming myself as well as learning how to go with the flow without becoming something I don’t appreciate, without being a part of something I wouldn’t want to support. Of course, this is assuming they aren’t interested in dialoguing and gaining our interest.
Though, how does that happen? When does a substance ever change form, except in stories of alchemy and magic? I think that’s what our challenges are like, when we come up with approaches that may seem incredible upon first thought but doable once how is discovered. It seems like sometimes the how births itself in our attempts of methods sure to fail, like flailing about in water may eventually lead to a treading pattern as we observe the various effects from the various flailing limbs. Sometimes it’s not even that purposeful and we end up noticing something has worked out and then wondering how we lucked out.
Maybe this is going through my mind because I recently heard a song from long ago in a café the other day: “The more you suffer, the more it shows you really care. Right? yeah yeah yeah” (Offspring, “Self Esteem”)
Which also brings to mind “no pain, no gain” and its misconstrued suggestion. I think I’d like to change that saying a bit to perhaps “no difference, nothing new” since I don’t believe pain has to mean damaging (like a torn muscle) but seems to be thought of in that way. Feeling and noticing a stretch is plenty discomfort without having to ache, and taking time to become familiar with the new limits without overshooting or reverting back is how that change becomes a part of us, through our acceptance.
If there is effort, I’ve got to wonder why. To me, it means something isn’t fitting, somehow all the parts involved are not interacting in complementary and supportive ways. It may be more than one part that needs to be adjusted, or perhaps the whole thing set aside. That’s when a lot of basic assumptions get questioned, and I might feel like I’m stuck for the moment until I reconcile not only what is going on but what has been going on, and what I really want. It’s amazing how much of it is all in my head, in the form of assumed limitations I haven’t questioned in a long time.
Frankly, I just don’t believe in effort as being necessary, partly because there is no effort when I appreciate the whole experience. Some might think of that as the fun factor, but I try not to dichotomize it so much.
I think this is amazing. Gorgeous. It’s like taking the “work in progress” idea and amping it up a notch or two.
.-= Jennifer “Scraps” Walker´s last blog ..the 10th Art: Bed Arrangement =-.
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