“A writer – and, I believe, generally all persons – must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.” – Jorge Luis Borges
I can’t overstate how important my neighbors are. Many times in the past they have helped me (i.e., our family); with 5 minutes of their time or a tool or much advice on what to do about some thing I have no idea about.
To my discredit, I don’t know how to fix a thing gone wrong with zero information. When these things go wrong, they start with thinking out loud on what they’d do and then end up just helping me do it.
For 5 great hours, my neighbors helped me find and fix a leak that otherwise would have cost thousands of dollars to find and fix. What leads one to having this kind of willingness that they have? I would imagine it is that they both have clear enough minds and souls to engage and that someone else has done this for them before.
However, I am incredibly grateful.