Pulling back the arrow
Taking the time to tell your story
Given a second chance, I
would not do it again, but I'm not sure that means I am rehabilitated.
Anyway, it's not me I want to tell you about; I want to tell you about a guy
named Andy Dufresne. But before I can tell you about Andy, I have to explain a
few other things about myself. It won't take long.
- Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
“Pull the bow back, but let the arrow go.”
That’s one of the central ideas in archery. Your job as the archer isn’t to fire the arrow. Instead, it’s to draw the bow and create tension whilst aiming at your target. Simply focusing on this will create the conditions for the arrow to be released without excessive force on your part.
That’s what I learned today from reading the opening paragraphs of Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption. Stephen King, speaking through Red, draws the bow back by letting Red talk, going on seeming tangents, but trusting that he'd naturally lock into the story when there was no more tension to be released.
I am of course talking to myself, and goading “me” to stop worrying about where the arrow is going, and focus on drawing back the bow and creating tension whilst aiming at a target.
It’s not about the arrow. It’s about having the confidence to pull the bow back and let the arrow go.