Zen and the Art of Kite Flying

[Guest guest]

JUST SHARING/BORROWED

LOVE YOUR FRIEND

BREE

Zen and the Art of Kite Flying

“It’s not going to work.â€Â Â  This was my ever-cynical husband talking

today as we got out of the car at the park.  “It won’t fly.â€

“I think you’ve forgotten who you are dealing with,†I smiled with that

familiar glint in my eye.  Never tell me I can’t do something.

It started at the mall.  My three year old had been asking for a kite

for weeks now, but I refused to pay $10 or more for a novelty that would

surely wear off.  I was going to wait until I found an inexpensive one. 

My patience paid off, and I found a beautiful plastic kite in the shape

of a rain forest parrot.  This was a beautiful kite, and the price was

right: $2.99.  “I’ll take it,†I said to the clerk.

Walking out of the mall, I said to my husband, “It’s a perfect day to

fly a kite.  Let’s stop by the coffee store and then go to the park.â€Â 

While I was ordering my nonfat, sugar-free, iced-blended latte, my

husband tried to assemble the kite.  “We can’t fly the kite today,

Traci.  It’s missing the cross bar.â€

Ohhhh.  So that’s why it was so inexpensive.

Lea had her heart set on the park, so we went anyway.  Getting out of

the car, my husband noticed that I was bringing the incomplete kite. 

“Why are you bringing that?â€

“I’m going to find something to use as a cross bar.  A stick or

something.â€

“It won’t work, Traci.  It’ll be too heavy.â€

“Doesn’t hurt to try, “ I said as I walked off with my latte and my

kite.

I walked slowly along the perimeter of the park looking for just the

right stick.  I knew it was there.  I could feel it.

This park is a wonderful place.  It has a baseball diamond, a dog park,

a rose garden and two separate play structures for kids.  It even has a

view of the entire city.  But the thing that appeals to me the most

about this park is what lies just beyond the fence.  Part of the park is

segregated off with a chain link fence, and it is a City owned junkyard.

Old street signs lie up against large pipes.  Dense tree growth covers

the site.  Feral cats (including one I used to own) live in there,

sleeping lazily in the safety of their urban forest.  If I were a cat, I

would want to live here.

Walking along the side of the fence peering in, I am transported back to

childhood.  I’m not a woman with two kids and two careers.  I’m a kid

looking for a stick for her kite.  I remember days lying under trees and

looking at clouds going by.  I could lie for hours and watch an anthill.

I want nothing more than to climb that fence and go exploring. Alas, I

am, in actuality, not a kid anymore.  I am a 37-year-old woman who

would, in all likelihood, pierce something very crucial if I climbed the

fence.  I am adventurous, but not stupid.

Wait!  There it is.  There is my stick!  It’s just on the other side of

the fence.  I use another stick to drag it over to where I can pull it

through the fence.  I got it!

It broke as I was pulling it out.  That’s okay.  I found one; there must

be another.  In all, I spent a good 30 minutes looking for sticks until

I found one that was perfect.  It fit the kite, and was solid yet light.

I walk the kite back to my husband and daughter. As I’m walking,  I’m

trying to get the kite up but it won’t catch a breeze.

“Traci, you need to let out a lot of string and go running.â€

I don’t think so, but I try it anyway.   It doesn’t work.  I get a good

laugh at how silly I look running around trying to fly this kite.

“You’re going to poke a hole in the plastic. The stick is the wrong

shape. It won’t catch air that way, †my frustrated husband asserts.  He

goes back to the car to watch me from afar.

Despite his pessimism, I continue.  I know I can get this thing flying. 

I just know I can.

I roll the string back up again and do it my way.  I let out a little

string at a time until it catches a strong gust.  Higher, higher,

higher……..  it’s up!  I look back at my husband to see if he is

watching.

He is.  So are my kids.  They are watching far more than just mommy

flying a kite.

I release the string as far as it will go.  My beautiful kite is swaying

in the wind.  I grab the latte and lie down on the grass, one hand on

the kite, the other behind my head.  I just watch it go back and forth,

flapping in the wind for probably 30 minutes.

While I am lying there in this semi-meditative state, I realize that

this kite experience mirrors much of my life experience.

Success is very much like flying a kite.  You have to have the right

conditions.  Even if you don’t have all of the right equipment, you can

improvise.  You have to be willing to make mistakes and look silly.  You

have to build success a little at a time. Often, other people’s advice

is wrong.   Sometimes things crash to the ground and you have to start

all over again.  But, once it’s up and flying you can lie back and watch

it go.

Also like the kite experience, for much of my life people have told me,

“You can’t do it.  It won’t work.â€

Oh yeah?  Whether it is flying a kite or building the perfect life for

myself, I know I can do anything I set my mind to. There is nothing that

can hold me back—nothing to stop me from achieving my goals. Nothing,

except perhaps an occasional chain link fence.