My “mind of the known”

I recently spent a week fishing the West Branch of the Delaware River. A waterway widely known as holy land for the religion of fly fishing. Often difficult, never easy this river offers fly fishing people around the world a chance to test their wits and skills against wild trout with a prolific and quickly changing aquatic insect food base. For some time now my “fly fishing mentor” has been professing the effective importance of “Micro Nymphs” – tiny little mayfly imitations tied on minute hook sizes not even manufactured by many of the top suppliers. The hook is so small just an extra turn of thread will throw the proportions out of whack. While I wouldn’t even attempt to fish let alone tie these patterns 2 years ago - many months of patient practice at the fly tying bench and streamside have recently grown fruit. There are few feelings in the world as satisfying as the moment of unbridled discovery! I don’t mean the accumulation of a small solution or tool, but rather the moment when a discovery flies into your living radar screen from an origin you didn’t even know existed. Although my mentor could point the way, I would never have gained the mastery of this moment unless I spent those countless hours with the material of this epiphany. Now my vision has changed. I can see clearly a level of detail my “mind of the known” would never afford. The information was always there though …right in front of my eyes. I would like to increase the frequency of “aha” moments in my life. However, just like the computer processors of our world that will soon be outdated, my process of accumulating the knowledge necessary to spark “aha” moments is indeed outdated. If I could somehow increase the volume and scope of my “mind of the known”, I strongly believe true “aha!” moments could become a weekly or daily part of my experience.