DIY: ‘Between Desire and Reality’

Ok, so I know it’s Thursday — one day late for We Scout Wednesday— but isn’t that status quo on any DIY project?

Scoutie Girl asked us: why do you DIY, then answered herself better than I could ever put it.

“DIY fills the void between desire and reality. If God can create an Eve for Adam’s loneliness, so too can you create a skirt from a tablecloth.”

Man oh man, do we love to project ourselves into an imagined future. Some of us are better at making that imagined future a reality than others. I give myself credit (not a common occurrence) in this case for being able to do that.When I wanted to go to Italy for a summer, I did. When I want to move to London, I did. When I hated my TV job and wanted to write, I quit and did just that.

The term “DIY” isn’t just about making a pair of earrings or turning a wreck of a room into a dream suite. DIY is a three-letter acronym for the reason America exists. It is a perfect balancing trick of determined effort and pure imagination. It is the pioneer spirit, propelled into action by a limitless human mind.

Our beautiful minds take us anywhere we want to go. Our bodies will happily follow if we have the right tools. Screwdriver, air compressor, nail gun… yeah, they are important. But the most critical tool we bring to our project is a clear, well-constructed, well-lit path between our imagination and our determination.

Procrastination. The inner critic. Fear. These are simply boulders (or puddles) dropped into the pathway between what we KNOW we can do (our desire) and the work we are manifesting everyday (our reality). They are the Rocky Mountains and the Mighty Mississippi. Or maybe they are just a sweet babbling brook that needs to be re-routed.

We fear the ‘Y’ most of all– because in that ‘Y’ is the essence of the self, the originator of all roadblocks, big or small. When we balance the action of ‘DI’ with the power of the ‘Y,’ we get beautiful results.