Today I can’t remember where I read (or heard) “commit to the pour,” but it has to do with how to pour liquid from a container that has no spout, like pouring wine from one glass to another. If you are tentative, the liquid runs down the side of the vessel from which you are pouring and dribbles all over the place. But if you “commit to the pour” and tilt the glass over further, with confidence, the liquid pours into the other glass with no spilling.
It feels counterintuitive to do this, to commit to the pour. For whatever reason, my mind and body naturally want to be tentative. If I gently lean the glass over, just enough to carefully move the liquid, it’ll be safer, less messy. Instead, with a timid, gentle tilt, the wine clings to the lip of the glass and runs down the outside. It never makes it to the other glass. It dribbles down the stem and all over the counter surface, not just making a mess, making a stain. Making failure visible.
When you do commit to the pour, the liquid is, effectively, flung into the abyss above the new glass. The trajectory and the power of the force carry it out into the air between the two glasses. Gravity, a stronger force, curves it down into the other glass. The danger, of course, is that your aim might be off and the majority of the liquid could end up on the table or floor or your dining companion. And yet, without committing, without flinging the liquid with some force, you also risk the mess of a timid dribble. For some reason, the risk of using your power feels potentially worse than the risk of gentle spillage.
It takes courage to fling liquid out of a container. It takes courage to be bold with red wine, to risk missing the target, to risk staining something–leaving a mark that reminds you of failure. But without taking the risk, “failure” dribbles all over the place, the failure of full effort, failure to commit. That’s what I’ve been doing with my writing, and perhaps other things too. I’ve been so timid–not just for submissions, but for finishing anything, for making space in my life for it, for taking it seriously…for risking full effort. Time to fling the liquid. Commit to the pour. It should be a hash tag: #CommitToThePour
Leave a Reply