I received a generous gift from my family this year. It is a Dyna-Glo Signature Series DGSS1382VCS-D Heavy-Duty Vertical Offset Charcoal Smoker. For those familiar with the art of smoking, you will know this is a great entry level set up and I am over the moon excited to play with it. I sat down this morning and started looking at recipes for smoked salmon. I was thinking this would be pretty straight forward.

Turns out it is about as straight forward as riding a horse. If you look at it from a birds eye view it seems pretty simple. Light a fire, put the fish in the smoker, let it smoke for a time, and enjoy! You know… swing your leg over and go!

I didn’t have to dig too deeply to uncover the differences in opinions: wet brine vs dry brine, brine times ranging from less than an hour to overnight, rinse after brining, don’t rinse after brining, use a rub, don’t use a rub, don’t ever open the smoker, baste with honey after an hour, use mild fruit woods, use hickory… you get the idea.

It occurred to me, as I tortured myself over the multitude of options and opinions, how similar this is to the horsemanship journey. It is also bears remarkable similarity to the journey of personal growth and change. When faced with desire or chasing a dream, most people can see the magic path, the simple big picture. As we dig in, we are faced with the challenges and the million choices we must make, often without a clear right answer.

Why do people get stuck on their journeys? Some are simply overwhelmed by the complexity and have difficulty connecting to a belief that they could actually find a path through. They can’t seem to make choices and become quickly frozen. Others get caught up in the idea that it has to be perfect. They ruminate and obsess and, if they start on the path, they torture themselves along the way. Still others, in an effort to simplify their journey, rigidly hold their chosen course of action relying on a few actions or beliefs that, while helpful in a small set of situations, frustrate and fails them when faced with the inevitable twists and turns of life.

I am thinking that there are a few things that will be helpful to me as I pull the Sockeye fillets from the fridge. Accept the complexity and expect there to be challenges (and missteps) along the way. Remember that I get to do this more than once. No one ever created their masterpiece on the first try. Know that what makes sense to me or pleases me on one day may change over time. Believe in myself and the universe of possibility. And, finally, life and all that comes with it is an art that is fueled by giving ourselves permission to play. ~ Paul

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