Did you know I have a Master of Science in Management in Entrepreneurial Leadership (MSEL)? I forget about it sometimes, perhaps because of the unbelievably long name of my degree. The biggest lesson I took from my program is the phrase “embrace ambiguity.” Hearing it back then made my eyes roll involuntarily. My professors said it to my cohort almost every day for 9 months and it was the equivalent of my parents telling me to “bring a coat” before going out or to stop crossing my eyes because they'll get stuck that way.

I blocked out 99.9% of what I learned in my finance and accounting classes, and most of Operations and Economics too. I've needed to make room for more important information over the years, like how to file taxes and the names of Kim and Kanye's children. The MSEL class I liked most was LEAP, our year-long Leading Entrepreneurial Action Project. One of the very first homework assignments I remember doing for that class involved drawing a chair. Yes… literally Drawing. A. Chair. One of my roommates at the time graduated from Cornell and I was taking out student loans to sketch a damn chair. 

I don't remember exactly why we were given this assignment, something to do with embracing the process and … ambiguity? At the time, I was a former Communications major starting business school; I'd decided early on not to ask too many questions and just take an easy A wherever I could get it.

It's ironic … more than five years later and embracing and building processes is my chosen art form. Last week, I figured out how to automatically assign myself a to-do on Todoist every time someone sends me an inquiry on my website. I'm Picasso and Einstein combined! (Minus the mistresses and cousin marrying.) 

Side note, did you know Einstein was married to his maternal cousin?! I learned it two years ago and still think about it constantly.

Back to ambiguity. 

am·bi·gu·i·ty/ˌambəˈɡyo͞owədē/

the quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness.

If I were to draw a dining room chair right now, I would probably start with the top arch and work my way down. I see the arch as the pinnacle of the figure, and I think it could help me shape the rest. Though, I suppose I could actually start with the legs, since they would help me create a foundation for the piece. Do I dare start by drawing the seat instead?! Arguably, it's the glue that holds the chair together.

Perhaps there's a metaphor in here somewhere … or maybe I just spent 30 minutes thinking about different ways to draw a chair.