Throwing the Gordian Knot
Problems can calcify into a Gordian knot—fibers of fear, habit, and stale assumption cinched so tight no gentle tug can free them. Alexander the Great solved it with a single cut: some puzzles yield only to force.
Sailors and climbers use another knot: the monkey’s fist. It turns limp rope into a weighted dart, ready to sail toward a distant cleat or branch. Once it lands, it can anchor a new route, haul a catch, hide a treasure, or swing as a last-ditch weapon.
When a problem refuses to loosen, quit teasing its loops. Fuse it into a monkey’s fist—dense, deliberate, aimed elsewhere—and throw. If the small board feels rigged, coil your frustration tight as liquid gas, then unlash it on a wider field.