A radish and someone to share it with

a little serendipity goes a long way

Ok apologies in advance but I’m training for a race (hey, it’s Kristin) and for the next few weeks there are going to be way too many running metaphors. 

Here’s the first one: working on a Dream Project is like running down a long country road to a place you know by heart, but can’t quite see yet. All you can see is pavement and more pavement that eventually collapses into a vanishing point at the horizon. It looks like this:

I realized this on a long Sunday morning run as I turned a corner and the road unfolded before me. I saw the distance and I panicked. I wasn’t sure how far the road went, but something about its unfurling spooked me and I started to question myself.

How am I going to get from here to there?

I keep running and running but it doesn’t feel like I’m getting anywhere. Maybe I’ll turn around. I’ve probably done enough miles for today anyways.

My knee feels funny. Is it just tweaky or is this the start of an injury?

I’m not even halfway done and I feel like garbage.

What is the point of training for this race anyways?

Then, out of nowhere I saw a roadside radish. Not just any radish, but a gigantic radish. The biggest radish I’ve ever seen, like a big pink softball with a garnish of leaves on top just sitting there on the side of the road. Now a whole new set of questions cropped up: where did the radish come from? How does a radish get so big? Was it even a radish or maybe it was a turnip but I think it was a radish because the leaves on top looked like radish leaves? How was it so pristine and perfectly gumball pink? Could I run five miles carrying a giant radish? 

There was the urge to run home to find someone to tell about the radish. But then I realized I would sound crazy. “You’re not going to believe this. I was running for miles and miles and then I saw a radish. A really big one.” So I just kept running and spent the next several miles thinking about the radish and then before I knew it the run was nearly over and I realized I was actually feeling pretty good, my knee was no longer hurting, and I was sort of curious, even expectant, about what else I might see on the remainder of my run. 

The radish transformed my run. 

And the radish will transform the way you approach your Dream Project and creative pursuits. You need two things to stick with the project you start: (1) A radish to keep you “running” and (2) people you can tell about the radish who won’t think you’re nuts.

We need people who know what it’s like to show up day after day doing work that’s mundane and monotonous and then out of nowhere get hit with this surprising wonderful thing (like a gigantic radish!). We need someone to respond and say, ok so it was probably a turnip and did you consider driving back and then roasting it for dinner? So that then we can reply and say, omg thank you for asking and yes I totally did.

The road to making a Dream Project happen is long. There’s no denying this. The everyday is not glamorous, but a little serendipity can go a long way. You don’t have to see the whole road. You just need a radish and someone to share it with.

PS: I went back for it. Can someone tell me if this is a radish or a turnip?

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