The Sweet Spot

On Sunday Minister-Lou quoted American computer scientist and animator Ed Catmull. Apparently, he was co-founder of Pixar and President of Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Catmull said: ‘…there is a sweet spot between the known and the unknown where originality happens; the key is to be able to linger there without panicking.’

I recalled my days as a teacher… encouraging children to discover that sweet spot between optimism, opportunity, ambition, compassion…

At Costa yesterday I was served by a pleasant, personable young lady. I placed my order. ‘Perfect.’ she said. ‘Who – me or you?’ I asked. We laughed, wondering what people mean when they say ‘No worries’, or ‘No problem’. The sweet spot between ‘perfect’, ‘no worries’ and ‘no problem’ sounds good.

I was meeting Chris. I’d already had conversations with some older gents: ‘…Things aren’t what they used to be …I’m glad I’m not a young person today’. Chris and I explored cynicism and passive acceptance of situations outside our control…

Conversational themes for old men often seem to accept that there is no sweet spot.

This morning I was reminded of the prophet Joel’s words about ‘old men dreaming dreams’…

I’m reading Oswald Chambers, the early-twentieth-century Baptist evangelist and teacher who was a chaplain in Egypt to First World War soldiers who fought in Gallipoli and Gaza.

Chambers says: ‘We all have moments when we feel better than our best and we say – ‘I feel fit for anything; if only I could be like this always!

‘…Never let a feeling which was stirred in you in the high hour to evaporate. Don’t put your mental feet on the mantlepiece and say – ‘What a marvellous state of mind to be in!’ Act immediately…

‘…We have to learn to live in the grey day according to what we saw on the mount.’

Today this old man is seeking to discover the sweet spot between the known and the unknown, between outrageous dreams and grey reality, between inspirational insight and intentional action.