When Swatting the Fly Matters as Much as Slaying the Dragon: The Victories Gone Unnoticed.
You don't get to be immortalized in a fairytale, but you definitely save a lot of money on topical medication.
A thought's been niggling at the back of my brain recently; well, it comes and goes quite often.
"It's not always about slaying the dragon, but often about swatting the fly.”
We're all so obsessed with "slaying the dragon" moments - those grand accomplishments that get us standing ovations, shiny accolades, and those coveted social media likes. But really, it's not about the dragons, you through the trouble of slaying one just to get an insignificant guest appearance in a fairytale read by a lot of people you don’t care for that much. Often times, it's about swatting that annoying fly; that same one that gave your mother bug bites until you got one of those electric swatters.
Now, don't get me wrong, dragons are impressive. But flies? Those tiny victories, small resistances, and fleeting moments of validation are the unsung heroes of our daily grind. It's easy to get caught up in the glamour of the grandiose, but there’s a profound beauty in acknowledging the smaller, silent victories that pave our path. Those relative victories are often the ones worth celebrating. This mindset has urged me to look back at the life I’ve lead so far, a life I feel sometimes like I missed out on or didn’t maximize on the era I’m in, to look back at it with appreciation and gratitude.
Case in point: Jean-Michel Basquiat. To the casual observer, Basquiat's story is one of grandeur - a street artist turned art world darling. Awarded the cover of 1985’s NYT magazine, he is the first African American artist to cause so much uproar on the art market. People go crazy for his raw & honest work, seemingly simple yet of a stunning visual impact based on Neo-Expressionism and Primitivism.
But delve deeper, and you find a mosaic of silent victories. While his canvases are lauded, it's the scribbles in his notebooks, the drafts tossed in the bin, the sleepless nights in his studio, and the battles with inner demons that truly defined him.
Basquiat's notebook scribbles – Not always about grand canvases, but often about silent musings.
Basquiat’s life was a testament to the sentiment, that is life was swarmed with flies he swatted but is celebrated for the dragon he’s slain; neglecting the hero’s journey to the dungeon of the dragon but hyper-fixating on the destination. He faced rejection, battled racial stereotypes, and struggled with addiction. Yet, he persisted, creating art that didn’t just reflect society but questioned it. Each brushstroke was a fly swatted, a silent battle won.
For me, swatting the fly has been about those choices that go unnoticed in the larger picture. It's about the courage to choose oneself amidst the cacophony of societal expectations, to own your narrative and celebrate your spectrum of victories.
So, here's my nudge to you: next time you find yourself in the midst of a mundane challenge, remember Basquiat. Remember that sometimes, the journey isn't about waiting for the next dragon to slay, but cherishing the flies you swat along the way.
Until we chat again, keep swatting those flies. They matter more than you think.
Warmly,
Sarah
P.S. despite working in tech, I messed up using the scheduling mechanism in substack. We’re still doing every other Sunday, folks.