To arise unchanged?

 Norwegian author Jan Kjærstad wrote about the fearful power of fiction:

”We know hardly anything about our strength and possibilities. Sometimes I see man as a creature all folded up. We walk upright, but we have not managed to raise thought. Mentally speaking we are cripples …. I further imagine that books, fiction is just about the best tool for making us unfold …. And that is precisely why I am worried; why am I not hunting in a more determined way those books which will make me rise, which will make me grow a few centimeters? Because I no longer wish to be changed? I admit it: because I am afraid”.

How many books can you read that leave you essentially unchanged? There is a danger, in that if you do nothing from what is offered in what you've read, you may feel in some ways impotent and diminished. If Mr. Kjærstad or others think that reading may lead to a fearful transformation, they might try making things for awhile instead.

The change will offer less and even more to be afraid of. One might worry, "Am I to become a tradesman because of this?" Don't despair. Or be afraid. Your first efforts will not bring your whole life to such a point of risk. And even tradesmen have a value in the vast scheme.You would have to actually get good at something first, and by that time you will have discovered that what you've done is something noble that makes you of greater real value to others, easing your transition into a more meaningful life.

Today I'll cut box lids to size and fit the motion sensor light on the edge of the garage that broke off and was hanging loose. I could have called a tradesman to fix things and deprived myself of the satisfaction of having fixed it myself.

Make, fix and create...