Shitty First Drafts

In the article “Shitty First Drafts,” author Anne Lamott discusses the importance of first drafts and how their initial quality is not crucial, but rather what does matter is getting one’s thoughts out on the page so that with future drafts it because easier to trim the edges and get them better and better. To be honest, I feel like one of my favorite parts of the essay was the opening paragraph in which Lamott described a clear image of a writer sitting down carefree to write a novel with none of the everyday worries that boggle the rest of the writers who are less privileged. I just found this portion really entertaining because I could instantly recall at least five movies I’ve seen that provided the exact same image, the “ideal writer” if you will. To be honest I feel like this almost discourages realistic writers from pursuing the dream because they may feel as if they’re doing something wrong if they are unable to sit down and instantly pump out a Pulitzer Prize worthy piece of literature. Actually, now that I’ve continued to think about it, I can recall one scene from a movie that shows a more realistic approach to the writing process. It’s from the movie “Something’s Gotta Give” in which Diane Keaton’s character, a playwright, has a scene in which she leaves and returns to her computer repeatedly over the course of days, in a frustrated angst of writer’s block. Another part of the essay I found interesting was when Lamott wrote, “We do not think that she has a rich inner life, or that God likes her or can even stand her, (Although when I mentioned this to my priest friend Tom, he said you can safely assume you’ve created God in your image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.)” I don’t have a whole lot to say about this except that I just found the entire statement very interesting and partially true as well as partially false. Personally, I believe that even if I hate a person, God will always love them even if he doesn’t approve of some of their actions. However, I do know people who would believe that God is capable of hate and that another person (who they also happen to dislike) had committed something worthy of such hatred. I really just found it to be a interesting concept.

Life Lessons

When Deborah, the director of Kopper Top, handed me a halter to get onto a horse named “Image,” I instantly begin to worry because I felt like any comfort I once felt around horses had slipped away. The way she spoke to me about the entire situation seemed to make me feel like she expected me to know far more than I actually did and it made my heart start racing. As soon as I led Image away from the stall and up onto the driveway with about four other horses, I begin to feel a bit more in my element. Diane, another woman who worked at Kopper Top, stayed with the five of us volunteers and proceeded to teach us various “porcupine” techniques, which were various ways to control the horse and its movements and successfully direct it to where it should move at that moment. I feel like although the skill will assist us with our work at Kopper Top, it will also provide us with personal abilities. One of the key points made was not to make eye contact with the horse while directing because it put to much pressure of the horse to perform perfectly, and also not to look back at the horse when leading because it said you didn’t trust him to follow. I feel like those are two lessons to take into account whether they involve a horse or not, I mean it’s very important to remember that we shouldn’t expect others to perform perfectly in any respect or chances are they’re more likely to crack under pressure and fail. In addition, we should always remember to trust those around us before we feel the need to not trust them. In society, it is more common not to trust those around us and then to grow to trust them, however a personal rule of thumb for myself is to trust until I’m given reason to not trust. Perhaps this is a more naïve outlook but according to the teachings I absorbed from Kopper Top, my personal beliefs go hand-in-hand. I’m excited to continue taking lessons from this experience and to hopefully assist in changing another individual’s life by the end of this term.

First Impressions

When I pulled up to Kopper Top for the first time, my anticipations were not as high as I had hoped for multiple reasons. First of all, I had heard less than enthusiastic responses from a few of my peers who had gone previously, and also the overall appearance of the facility was less than uplifting. It became clear rather quickly how desperate the need for service was at this site, not so much for the actual purpose of the clinic, but more because the owners were clearly having difficulty both running a program and maintaining a facility. Kopper Top is primarily a program that allows mentally and physically handicapped as well as otherwise ill children to work on basic skills through communication with animals, primarily through horseback riding. Before arriving to the site, I had anticipated assisting with a lesson, and to be honest I was terrified by this notion. Personally, I rode casually for about four years when I was an adolescent and have not continued to do so for the past four or five years. At no point did I ever consider myself an expert and the thought of being given the responsibility to watch over another life, while having to work a skill I do not feel confident about, was horrifying. However, I feel it’s important to conquer such fears, and in response I planned to perfect any previous knowledge I had of horses and continue to build on it so I could become a beneficial asset to the facility. Upon arrival, I quickly realized that I was not expected to assume such a great responsibility and I also realized that the program was not solely for the clients who rode the horses and interacted with the cats, dogs, and ferrets, but in actuality it was greatly for the volunteers to learn life lessons beyond simply helping others.