Chaos Theory

My local, the "Salt Hill Pub" in Newport

The curtain has officially come down on my vacation. The kids got home late last night. By 5 this aftenoon, I bailed. I told Buddy to apologize to Tish for my skulking off before she got home from work. I'm down at the pub amid the noise where my thoughts can be quiet. I'm glad to have the kids back home (if not quite ready to face it). I loved the break but I love the grandsons, too.

It's there where the chaos starts but not where it ends. With Tish retiring, the kids starting a new term, introducing a new line of Irish pennywhistles this spring, and still worried about health concerns - everything is up in the air.

Chaos Theory suggests that out of the mess comes order, that the subtle movement of events in one part of reality can impact and create a tidal wave in others - for good or bad. That's what's so great about being a risk taker and embracing change. If you don't shuffle the cards or throw them in the air once in a while, every hand you deal will be the same. But after a good shuffle, while the cards are being dealt, the new hand has infinite promise. It's exciting.

Taking risks is not a gamble. Gambling is playing short term against specific odds on the chance that you will win something. Taking a risk comes when you build something without knowing the outcome but have a decided advantage against the odds. The risk involved is how well you handle the twists and turns along the way.

Being an artist, is by its very nature a chaotic risk. We risk failure and rejection every step up the learning ladder in the hopes that we'll get it right and speak to our audience. Commercially, the odds are against us and creatively our choices are constantly scrutinized. But the road I've travelled has been a real trip.