Borders, Edges and Margins

I woke recently, and for some unknowable reason, my mind was thinking about the borders of my life. You know, the edges I draw that keep me centered. Along with the margins I’ve allowed that give me the space between what I must get done today. I look at the overwhelming tasks that sometimes fill my “to do” list. There’s more work than you could shake a stick at!

Every day …
borders, edges, and margins must be re-inforced
else the proverbial creep into my life becomes a torrent.

One of the things I try to do every day is to “know and learn something new”. It’s not always an earth-shattering piece of information. I love stretching my parameters with new words, facts, calculations, points of study. It helps me consider things I may never have considered before.

A friend called me by a title that may make sense only after I researched it. I’m a Renaissance Man. I agree. My interests lie in multiple areas. I know enough about many things that I can communicate with a sense of knowing a little about whatever you want to discuss!

However, as we all know, we can have too many irons in the fire (yes, I’ve blogged about this)

Thoughts Ringing

While thinking about the borders of our lives, immediately my attention went to my favorite Alaskan artist, Byron Birdsall. All of the artwork of his that I own are tastefully framed, colored margins and edges cut just so. They appear immaculate. If you know anything about producing a final product, then you know there’s a lot of sloppiness. It requires cutting, discarding, and modifications along the way must be done to get to the final product.

His work gives me a view of Alaska from another point of view. Either something I may not ever get to see, or from a view that gives me a different focus. From the cold frigid northland to the mountains, animals to planes, I fell in love with his perspective and talent. I own a number of his prints and love every one of them.

All of this got me to thinking about the borders, edges, and margins of our lives. It requires focus to keep the separation real. What do we do to conceal the hard work behind the scene in order to present a finished view that looks organized and productive? How sloppy is the creation phase, and what do we do to prepare it for presentation?

The palette may be messy. Rags slopped with water and diluted paint, mistakes covered over with another layer. Sometimes, like the clay on a potters wheel, you simply have to start over and make a new start.

The person responsible for choosing the border colors, edging the paper into perfect shapes, and then wrapping a frame around the edges to give it symmetry and protection, well, that may not even be the artist who painted the scene.

Think about it. 

When I prepare a session to teach, there’s a lot of hard work behind the scene of preparation. I always hope the finished product (delivery) is as good as the amount of effort it took to get to the podium. Sometimes my research finds another masterpiece already in existence that helps me keep my focus. I may use part of it, but it will always be fit to my voice, pace and delivery style.

Much of what anyone does is seldom accomplished in a vacuum. We all gather our ideas for production from other sources! Quotes, quips, stories, parables, examples, colors, shades, and supplies. They all come from someone else. It’s the artist eye that interprets and presents the possibility of the final product often seen only in their mind and a product of their imagination.

Cropping The View

We’ve seen the images of a director holding up his hands in the shape of a frame to see the borders of a shot. I’m sure there is a technical name for this. I forget. I remember my high school days of being taught to consider the view before me as something that needs to be corralled for the finished product.

The premise for this action is to determine what will be seen by the camera. Recorded on the film (olden days!). Finally, what will be seen by the viewer. The photographer/director is already modifying the full picture to capture just what is needed for a possible final product.

Have you ever looked at a negative (film) that is waiting to become a positive (print)? You will find very rigid lines of borders, edges and margins exist to control the final product. It’s a product of the process.

It’s not just for the image being shot. It includes what the production team will use to craft a final product that viewers will see. The production team can only work with the borders, edges and margins as generated by the photographer.

Here’s my thought today.

What are the borders, edges, and margins of your life that you show to the world?

Are you happy with the hard work that brought you to this point? If you could unwrap the backdrop of your life to show how hard it was to get to this point, would we be aghast at what we see, or would we simply agree that the masterpiece you show is a perfection from all the hard work that no one ever sees? What is your focus for these parameters and the final product?

Think Spiritual For A Moment

Consider the Apostle Paul for a moment. Those who see him in later years of life only see the hard work of a man answering a higher call. His focus is sharp and driven to accomplish something before he reaches the ending of his life. With unwavering gaze, he keeps his eye on the goal of the ending, but his hands to the plow of accomplishing his mission. He tells one church about his focus:

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 
(1 Corinthians 2:1-5 NKJV)

Even the prophet Isaiah alludes to this concept when he describes his “face set like flint” (Isaiah 50:7) – it’s a razor-sharp focus that cuts aside anything that is not necessary for the journey! Similarly, Steve Jobs identifies the strength of his focus by describing what he did not do more than what he accomplished.

Define What’s Necessary

This is crucial. Know who you are, what you are supposed to do, and how you are to accomplish your goals. Prioritize. Analyze. Decide. Know!

Go back to the writer mindset for a moment. I deal with this all the time. Do I write every word that I’m thinking about? Or do I edit and force some words to disappear because they are not necessary. Some call this the job of an editor. They read your story and help you trim what isn’t needed to distract the audience.

Like the tools given to the editor and presenter of a final product, the cutting floor is laid waste with many things that are removed from the end product. It’s not that they were worthless, but they were potential distractions of the focused direction.

Consider a writer (not an author!). But consider the writer wants to become an author. Before the final book is presented to the reviews and the public, it has gone through many re-iterations. Words, sentences, characters, story-line – all are subject to the cutting room floor.

Focus

You have the ability to trim what is not needed! Maybe that’s where we need to adjust our focus. Define our borders. Crop the edges. Keep some margins between ourselves and the busy work that keeps us hopping too many hours of the day.

I’ve enjoyed Michael Hyatt and some of his possibilities for my world. A recent attendance to his class, “Free to Focus” gave me tools, thoughts, and ideas on how to control my focus, borders, edges, and margins. My toolbox is full with the necessary implements to help me control my world even better. This is something we all need!

Maybe you have tools on how you control your focus, borders, edges, and margins. Care to share? Send me a thought. I’m always willing to learn!