Could it be easy? Plus January sketches
Dear Friend,
Tell me… how are you?
Over here, we are revving up the hamster wheel of routine, working our way through tasks, homework, exercise, healthy eating… you know… all the building blocks that construct daily life.
I have been thinking about the popular saying, “We can do HARD things.”
I feel like I have heard it a lot in the self-improvement sphere lately.
The word hard has all the nuance of a slab of granite. When we tell ourselves that what we are doing is hard, it feels like ramming our foreheads into a piece of stone.
Granite is definitely hard. It is an igneous rock that has a hardness of 6-7 on the Mohs hardness scale. We can say that granite is hard, or diamonds are hard (they are a 10 on the Mohs scale!), but I refuse to call my problems “hard.”
Where is the complexity in that?
Even granite often has inclusions of bright, sparkling quartz. Even diamonds sparkle with rainbows from within.
I much prefer to say that what I’m doing is difficult, or challenging, or tricky.
When something is challenging it means that you already have the complete skill set to deal with the problem, it’s just that you might need an extra push of endurance or energy.
When something is difficult, it means that you’re learning as you go along, and each step forward is enlightened by the previous step. You build on your abilities and understanding.
When something is tricky, it means that the universe has a card hidden up its sleeve, and you’ve got to figure it out. The best way to solve the problem might not be the most obvious one. Sometimes the solution is easy, but illogical.
Words are important. How we talk to ourselves, and define our problems is important, too.
Saying, “I can do hard things,” smacks of stubborn bravado. I can just see the grimacing face and straining muscles. Grrr! Yah!
Life has so many layers of complexity and nuance.
To flip things completely around, I often ask myself, “How would this problem look if it were easy?” *
Then, my synapses immediately snap to possibilities that had never occurred to me before.
The minute you reframe something as difficult, challenging, or tricky… or even easy… you give yourself power. It allows your brain to start spinning in the background, figuring out lateral ways to think about the problem. Do I have the skills, but just need extra endurance? Do I need to think about it differently? Is there something I still need to learn? Where could I find that information or help?
It also makes space for fun in the process of meeting those challenges.
I’m not sure that something that is called “hard” could ever be fun. But a difficult, challenging, or tricky problem could still be enjoyable, or rewarding. Or have a little inclusion of sparkle hidden somewhere in it.
Granite and diamonds are hard, and even they sparkle.
May you discover easy solutions for all of your problems,
X
Jane
P.S. Please click the heart on this email, or share it with a friend! A little magic can go a long way!
*(Tim Ferris inspired this idea of reframing problems as “easy”).
Coming up in the next few newsletters! Stay tuned!
Frequently asked questions about my daily drawing habit. I’ll answer them all in detail! REPLY to this email to ask a few questions!
Daily adventures (and how to find them).
Hourly comics day.
What a great reframe, thank you! Beautiful sketches as always💜
I always enjoy receiving your newsletters - I love looking at your sketches! I tried picking up watercoloring months ago, but I struggled a lot with wanting everything to be perfect and "be consistent". Do you have any tips or advice on picking up a hobby and just enjoying it rather than pretend to be perfect from the get go?