in which I get metaphysical

Every once in a great while, I get creative in such a way that the end result is a True Thing. That means the end result feels right, looks right, I can't think of anything else to do to it; it's exactly what I meant and came out exactly the way I wanted. The design for my last tattoo was a True Thing. Sometimes I can write something that turns out to be a True Thing. I've done one translation that ended up that way, too.

Most of the time when I get a creative impulse like that, I'm limited by the lack of skill to produce the thing I see in my mind. That gets frustrating. I've been carrying a painting around in my head for years; I know exactly what it looks like, I know exactly what colors it is, but I am not a painter. I absolutely cannot get any sort of paint to do what I want. Unfortunately in order for this painting to be a True Thing, it has to be a painting, not a drawing, and not a Photoshop creation. (Not that I can draw or do things with Photoshop well enough either, but at least it would be out of my head.)

I have another idea that feels like a True Thing, but I need to be a mechanical engineer in order to make it work. Among the things I am not is a mechanical engineer. I'm willing to play around with mechanical engineering in the pursuit of this, though. When I get it right, it's going to be incredible.