290/365 Experiment #3478

When we were kids

    at the edge of a river

    in the waves of the ocean

    in the bath

    at the end of a family meal

 

 

 

 

  we were

              playing

    with water

 

 

 

 

trying to catch it

    trying to hold it in our hands

  feeling it flowing

                                between our fingers

 

 

 

 

pouring it from one glass

      into another

    again

        and again

      endlessly

 

 

 

 

This is how we

            learned water

 

 

 

 

      how it it feels

  how it moves

what it does

    what it can't do

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the more

          we played with water

    the more we learned

                                  about it

 

 

 

 

Now

          all grown up

      we can

                predict

    how it feel

    how it moves

    what it does ...

this seems so natural

      so easy

  so obvious

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However

    to reach this point

      this ease

      this fuildity

                          of movements

it took

        an enormous number

  of experiments

  many of them

      building on the previous ones

    to explore new things

    to confirm what we imagined

 

And

      most importantly

  among these experiments

it took

        many spilled glasses

            many broken ones

    many impossible targets

                and many missed ones

      many surprises

            and many unsolved puzzles

  it took

      many failures

 

 

 

 

 

We wouldn't have learned many things of value

      about water

          how it feels

          how it moves

          what it does

          what it can't do

    we wouldn't even be able to pour a glass of water

                                                                                    from that pitcher

if we didn't fail

                so many times

          when we were playing

 

and we wouldn't have learned much from all these failures

  if we are too afraid of making them

  if we remained inside ourselves

                                          fearing making them

          without pushing that glass

          to see what it would do

  if we ran away and hid

                each time failures happened

  if we refused to observe them

            and look through them

 

 

 

 

We failed

    and we failed again

  and we succeeded

and we failed some more

    and we had a good look at it all

    and it became easier

        and easier

 

  and today

        we can pour all the glasses of fresh water

                we want

            for our friends

        sitting with us at dinner

    without thinking much about it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems like it was child's play

And we may

                today

  have forgotten

all these experiments

                        we made

  forgotten

      all these hours feeling the water flowing on our skin

      all this water spilled

                    outside the bathtub

      all these glasses

                              which fell on the tablecloth

      all these bowls

                      overflowing

        all these wondrous failures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May be ...

  may be

      we should remember them

      though

  each time we see

      someone else perform an action

            something we don't know how to do

    so precisely

  and so elegantly

      and so effectively

that

    we think he was born with the ability to do it

      or with such a strong predisposition to it

and

    we think we can't do it like this

    we think we will never be able to do it like this

 

 

 

 

May be

        then

  we should remember about the years

                                                          of practice

      it took us to learn something as obvious as water

maybe we should

      consider the amount of time

          of practice

            and the enormous amount of

                                                            failures

          it took

                  for that other person

              to now be able

      to do this

            or that

          with such ease

                  and elegance

 

 

 

 

Or would we rather

        discount it with a mindless

                    "oh well ... he was born with it"

      ?

 

 

 

 

 

If you came to Earth

          from a planet

          where water did not exist

  how long would it take you

        to learn it ?

How many experiments ?

 

 

 

 

Could you really learn it

      without spilling some ?

Could you really learn it

    if you were afraid to fail an experiment ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Play !

      Spill !

  Learn !

  And then play !

 

Done