Molded and Shaped
In college, I decided that the pressure of my studies needed a counterbalance. Too much work was making me dull, and I knew that I needed a healthy activity~ something a bit more constructive than the popular choice of frequenting the pub on the corner of the busy main street on which the university was situated. Of all the choices available (and there were many), I landed on pottery making. I found a local studio, set a short drive from the downtown North Carolina town where I lived, with a picturesque setting and a small but quaint set-up for aspiring potters. It didn’t take long for me to realize that ‘throwing a pot’ was much harder than, say, throwing a pot. The teacher surely knew that her 2o + years of experience needed to be downsized in simple jargon, quickly, and with great patience, if she planned to have students who made more than clay mush piles. Unfortunately, I had been over-hasty in my choice of relaxing outlets because even by the fourth class, I was hopeless. Every time I created an even somewhat symmetrical bowl on the potting wheel, I would accidentally press in on one side a bit too hard and the whole thing would spin out into a collapsed art deco ashtray, of sorts. I truly had to fight back tears more than I care to admit. Why was this so difficult?
As I think back to my short stint as a ‘potter,’ and the three tiny creations that survived, I am struck by how similar pottery making is to ‘life making.’ The pottery wheel uses centrifugal force by spinning the clay at varying speeds. Centrifugal force pulls from the center towards the outside, much like we are so easily pulled from our center. By center I mean our core values, purposes, missions, intents and true hearts’ desires. Living on this planet can feel like one big exercise in staying centered while forces (read: job, health issues, marital difficulties, parenting challenges, world crises, consumerism, various lusts) all simultaneously try to pull you from your foundation.
As a follower of Christ, I am constantly being tugged to go a different way than Jesus models and encourages. If I work harder, dig deeper, serve more grandly, read more, focus my studies better, strategize more intently, or simply just perform at a higher level then I will be able to fix my problems (and maybe others too!). The reality comes crashing down just like my old pottery attempts when I push in just a bit too hard. Wisdom literature and those who have worked this ‘life thing’ a bit longer will tell you to just ‘lay it down.’ Stop trying so hard. We can only carry what is ours and sometimes that overzealous attitude of ‘I can fix all of this (and right now)’ simply leaves us into the old clump of flopped-over flesh that feels overstretched and poorly shaped.
Another lesson to be had from the potter’s wheel is the idea that every action has an effect. Because of the spin, we can achieve very symmetrical and beautiful detailing. Trimming and chattering with metal tools can create the most unique and eye-catching designs on a piece, but with the wrong amount of pressure, your clay becomes sliced and diced beyond recognition. Maybe that was just my experience, but you get the idea. Formation is not just a clay and wheel experience; we, too, are being formed every day by the choices we make, by the thoughts we think, and by the experiences and activities we participate in. By being deliberate with our pressure and carefully choosing the design we want in our lives, we can allow ourselves to be molded and shaped into something beautiful. Coaching is a wonderful tool to identify what we want to be formed into and how we can reach this goal. One of the most exciting aspects of being a Life Coach is the privilege of bearing witness to life transformations that are deliberate and liberating. I never tire of witnessing the extraordinary change in clients as they learn to take on their own formation in healthy and action-oriented ways. If you find you are in need of a change in some aspect of your life, and you are not sure how to get there, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at WellSpring Coaching Services. We love to help bring Clarity and Intentionality into your life-making.
**Special Note: Rest assured, I am slightly better at Coaching than I am at pottery making : )
