On this very hot day in mid California, I was out trying to make some semi-dried porcelain turn itself into a pot. It was reluctant, at best. There were spots deep inside that were drier than others and I could feel them but I thought I could work around them. So I centered the clay pretty well, thought I detected a teensy wobble, but ignored it. I brought the clay out and started to bring the sides up and that was simple.... and I LOVE that part, it's like magic.......the clay just slips between your fingers. Always good.
So the sides come up and they're even, everything is good. But I had to keep messing with it.... tidying up the runny stuff from the sides, sopping up the excess water from the inside, thinking maybe I could squeeze up another inch or two on the sides, and therein lies the problem. Why can't I just leave well enough alone?
Nope, I pulled the sides up a bit more and it started to get wobbly. I kept trying to correct it and it went well for a while until I flinched and whooooosh, the whole top slid dangerously at a serious right angle in a fraction of a second. DANG IT! And it was so perfect.
So I tried to fool myself into thinking that I could just pick up the side and smooth it out and it would be okay, but no. I had to yank most of the clay off until I was down to a few inches.
I'll try again I thought. So always the experimentor, I centered that part, and put the heel of my palm into the middle and gently shoved out. I figured I would at least get a small platter.
But I notice that the piece is just a teensy bit off center, but I am too lazy to fix it, so there's this extra little lump of clay that goes off to one side along the rim, not bad, but it's there. I can see it but I want to ignore it.
I stop the wheel and cut it off figuring it would be okay. I continue on and the little lump around the rim forms again. I try for the third time. Same thing happens. Well now I KNOW that the clay is off center and no matter what I do, it's not going to throw right. No respector of persons.
Life is full of these little analogies. It screams for us to just "GET IT"... That platter spoke volumes to me. When we have a bump in the road, relationships, alcohol, drugs, substance issues, whatever, just cutting it off, is not always enough to correct the problem.
That platter showed me that you can trim the obvious away again and again, but eventually you have to rip the whole lump of clay off the bat and start over. You DO have control.
Anything less than getting to where the weak point began, will not suffice. You'll just keep working and working to create something that is atop a wrong foundation.
I tried to take the easy way out to get that platter to work, and then I thought about people I know who struggle to fix things, get their lives to work, but never address the real issue. They never scrape the mess off the bat, gather up their supplies and tools, assess them and start over. And I wonder, will they be doomed to repeat the process over and over? I hope not. I pray not.
In any case.....I do have something fun to share. I made these birds yesterday, and I love them!
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