An arrow moment. As I took the train home from my last lecture of my teaching course I realised I’ve been in an arrow moment. I learned recently that an arrow moment is where you have to pull an arrow backward in order to move forward.
To tell the truth, from the moment I made the decision to go back to uni to become a teacher it’s felt like I’ve been falling backwards. All my ‘achievements’ fell away and meant nothing, and I was stripped back and revealed to be a clueless first timer again. When I first made the decision to change course and become a teacher, I felt strong, ready to attack something new. Ready to leap forward, and prepared to pull back a little to do so. Now that I am reaching the end of this stretch of the journey, I realise that at some point I forgot that I was launching. I forgot that I wasn’t falling back, but pulling purposefully on the bow.
I’m no archer, but from my Robin Hood cartoon-level knowledge, I know that a slow and purposeful pull back leads to a more purposeful journey towards the target. And I’m nearly there.
I feel so comforted by this metaphor, and it’s something I’m going to use for other big decisions or changes in my life. Sometimes you feel like you’re going backwards in order to move forward. Sometimes it might look to other people like you’re falling back, when you are gathering momentum to launch. Sometimes your target will be invisible to others. Sometimes you might not hit it exactly. But at least you moved. At least you got closer to your target and can launch another arrow. Or maybe your target moved. And that’s okay too.
Linggow 