Let's not mistake foolishness for courage.

That’s another line from The Cat Man. To be more precise, it usually goes something like, “Let’s not mistake foolishness for a death wish.”

Speaking of which, let’s talk about that wolf photo. If you haven’t seen it, scroll down to January 12 and take a look. On the morning of the photo, Cat left me with the parting words, “Don’t do anything foolish.”

“Who me?”

He rolled his eyes.

I honestly didn’t plan to do anything foolish, it just happened. A friend invited me to help out at a facility (which I will not name) that works with injured wild animals to ready them for return to the wilderness.

My friends don’t call me an animal magnet for nothing. Every animal in the place took a liking to me. The grizzlies kept dancing for my cooing, the mountain lion kept staring into my eyes (was that love or looking for dinner?), and the wolf thought I was absolutely wonderful—and tasty—he kept licking my face. I couldn’t resist him…or her…I didn’t stop to check. I didn’t stop to think either. I simply went on impulse. Impulse and foolishness are kinda like synonyms. But I have a very good angel who understands my unique personality. He’s always a step ahead.

After viewing the photo, I realized that my impulsive act was probably the very thing Cat had meant when he said not to do anything foolish. Oops!

What if that wolf suddenly decided he didn’t like me so much after all? What if I still had jelly on my face? What if he was having a bad day? Would he have licked? Or would he have chomped?

Now, I’ve been honest with you about my “courageous” act of petting a wolf. Honesty is more an act of courage than my act of petting a wolf. Honesty is also something that is sadly missing in a lot of today’s writing and art.

As a nonfiction writer, I must be honest enough to show my failings along with my achievements. I can say I’m fearless, but that would be a lie, even though I do a lot of things that make me appear to be fearless. When I’m writing about others, I need to honestly portray their process of reaching their goals. I don’t need to uncover every dirty secret, but I do need to show some of the warts.

As a fiction writer, my characters need to be able to reveal their true identities. If they’re impulsive like me, then I need to show the results. If they’re courageous like The Cat Man, then I need to show his true inner feelings . . . that he believes his courage is an accident.

As an artist, I can either take the courage to paint the things that thrill me, or I can wimp out and paint what sells. Of course, it’s wonderful when the two go together. It takes a lot of courage for an artist to say when the painting or drawing is finished. I’m often tempted to let someone else be the judge of that. It’s wise to take good counsel, but it’s also wise to not overwork my art.

Courage is there for the taking, right when we need it. Tomorrow we’ll talk more about how to take it.

Don’t forget the fun writing exercise in yesterday’s posting. I’m still looking for some wild stories to be turned in!

Happy Valentines Day!