When we start something, we try to draw a perfect 'blueprint' first.
Whether it be business, relationships, or raising children. But here is the story of an architect who did ‘nothing’ to create the most perfect path.
After completing a large office building, Mason, a famous American architect, did not lay the paving stones connecting to the entrances.
Instead, he issued an unexpected order.
"Just plant grass in the entire empty space between the buildings for now."
People were puzzled.
"It must be inconvenient without a road, so why don't they pave it?"
Mason simply waited silently for the summer to pass.
As time passed, something amazing happened. People began walking, each choosing the most comfortable and fastest path to reach their destinations.
The frequently traveled paths had wide, distinct grooves in the grass,
while the less frequently traveled paths left narrow, faint traces.
These paths were not straight lines drawn with a ruler.
Sometimes they were winding, sometimes they were slanted, but they were a ‘living map’ created by the users' desires and natural flow.
When autumn came, Mason called in workers and laid paving stones exactly along those grooves.
This path was more efficient than any blueprint in the world, and at the same time, it came to possess a natural beauty that harmonized perfectly with the surrounding environment.
Mason's method poses an important question to our lives.
Are we perhaps forcing an 'uncomfortable straight line' on others, or on ourselves, due to our subjective stubbornness?
In business: Are we launching a service before analyzing customer behavior patterns?
In relationships: Are we insisting only on the way we want to communicate, ignoring the direction in which the other person's heart is flowing?
What is more powerful than complex measurement tools or data analysis is an 'eye that observes the flow.'
Rather than trying to force a change in the current, it is much faster and more accurate to set sail in the direction of the flow. In Eastern wisdom, this is called 'following the natural order.'
If you are feeling frustrated because something is not working out right now, pause your planning for a moment and wait for the 'grass' to take root.
The answer lies not in your head, but in your footsteps and the flow of the field that you are already putting into practice.
Only when we follow the natural order can we finally find the most beautiful and efficient path.
