I had the image of pushing a heavy, almost round rock up a steep hill. This is how my project often feels to me.  A friend told me that even if this Sisyphean image was accurate, thinking so was not a helpful way to imagine a difficult undertaking that requires patiently applied perseverance.

“Why not think of it instead as rolling a hoop down the road?” he said.

I did, and it was a huge help.  At first.  I have found, as time goes on, that the hoop is not completely round, that its edges are sharp, that it weighs as much as the rock I’d been pushing, that the road is gutted and long, and devilishly inclined, that cars now whiz by, often very close by, and rarely miss spraying a plume of filthy water.

“What else would you rather be doing?”  I ask myself.  I have no better answer than this, truly nothing engages my imagination and my various skills more.  So I continue slogging the long slog.  Strength to all of our arms!