The Magic of 'Hatching'

Hatching is what you do for yourself when you push past the obstacles and barriers that are holding you back and come out of your shell, ready to learn how to fly.  In Ann Lamott's wonderful book Bird by Bird, she talks about recovering from having her tonsils out.  She had used all the pain medication they would give her.  When she asked for more they told her the pain was from not using the muscles of her throat and she should just chew some gum.  It was painful but she pushed past it and the pain soon went away.  One could wonder how many physical and mental muscles we have frozen by being afraid to use them.  Many the loss of energy we sometimes feel when we are starting out on a creative project is not tiredness but fear of flexing our creative muscles.  Maybe perfectionism or some other bad habit has us in a state of creative paralysis. In one of the Harry Potter movies there is a scene where a baby dragon hatches out of his shell.  The dragon has a bit of a horn on his beak to use to break out of the shell.  I suggest to all wise magicians that you too, are equipped with a spike of the tip of your beak to help you hatch yourself.  There may be a mother hen or a mother dragon around to help you chip out of the shell, but basically you are the one who has to push and chip until you can emerge into the opportunities that await you.  Flex your hatching skills.  You don't have to fly right away.  But until you push yourself past a few things, you don't have a chance to learn how to fly.  Take a chance and hatch yourself.  May the spark be with you.