INEVITABLY

The good stuff takes time. Meaningful takes time.

I posted a Note recently about the laziness of taking shortcuts, and the delusion that such shortcuts reach the same, desired destination. It reminded me of this essay, which is the 124th in the second edition of POISON, about accepting the path as it is without seeking shortcuts, about accepting and embracing the time it takes to achieve competence, and perhaps mastery.

When I’m out hiking with Easton I think about shortcuts and their consequences because any uphill trail features switchbacks and those are cut with enough regularity to leave permanent evidence on the landscape. I doubt these marks are left by uphill hikers seeking a more direct and difficult way. People who are wired like that find their own way, on different terrain that leads to different objectives.

No, these marks are left by the lazy, those too weak or lame to take a longer more time-consuming route, or by people whose time is so precious that they cut a new path directly down the slope to save a little bit of theirs. I try to put myself in their shoes; perhaps those are too tight and they just want to reach the car so they can remove them. Perhaps it’s just more fun to disobey, to flow with gravity instead of diverting from its direct pull.