This is probably the sort of deep philosophy you can get from a weather-beaten, or even an artificially weathered, plank at Hobby Lobby, but I saw this at a restaurant in Cambria this week and I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before, and look …
Sometimes, you get a thunderclap. Something short of an epiphany, but no less important. Sometimes they happen in dreams, or staring in the mirror, or in random moments at red lights. But this one was a carefully stenciled platitude on a weight-bearing column in a seaside restaurant and it was perfectly timed …
There’s a few ways you can use that expression, perfectly timed. It could mean, in this context, that you receive a quick stab of clarity. Or it could mean the introduction of new information or a new concept when you’re ready to be receptive, and willing to give real thought to what you’re told. I suppose it could also mean both. That’s how I’m choosing to take this. I was ready for the sudden 2×4 across my brow, and willing to learn what it meant. And at that moment, as I passed this on the right, and looked up, there it was.
Maybe it was having just come off the sand, or having that persistent feeling of salt on my skin. Maybe it was the jet lag. But, most likely, I’m just ready to accept real wisdom when I see it, even if it is from a fortune cookie or, as in this case, a restaurant motto.
It seemed fundamental. It seemed obvious. It was like any straightforward invention where you smack your head and wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Why didn’t I think of that?
It doesn’t hurt that it was a restaurant with really good fish tacos, either. So, thanks John and Kernn. (And thanks for the tacos, too.) There are a lot of ways one could take to heart. I’ve already started pondering them. And will continue to do so.
That word, the one at the end, that’s powerful.
