Sutor, ne ultra crepidam is a Latin expression meaning literally “Shoemaker, not beyond the shoe”, used to warn people to avoid passing judgment beyond their expertise. The expression led to the term ultracrepidarianism, which is giving of opinions and advice on matters outside of one’s knowledge.
Its origin is set down in Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia, where he records that a shoemaker (sutor) had approached the painter Apelles of Kos to point out a defect in the artist’s rendition of a sandal (crepida from Greek krepis), which Apelles duly corrected. Encouraged by this, the shoemaker then began to enlarge on other defects he considered present in the painting, at which point Apelles advised him that ne supra crepidam sutor iudicaret (a shoemaker should not judge beyond the shoe), which advice, Pliny observed, had become a proverbial saying. You can read more about it here.
What if I was that shoemaker, who thought of himself beyond making shoes. Though I may have many pairs of shoes, the total collection being less than the individual pairs. That could explain why I feel the gap between what I have and what I thought I would have, despite not being a “one trick pony”.
In my previous article on Misogi challenge (#59) I talked about my personal successful completion of the said challenge (in spirit), and I was buoyed by the results so much that I was quite chuffed about my “unconventional” and therefore self-claimed unique technique of taking Milkyway shots (#50) as seen below.
Recently I joined a FB group called – what else? Milkyway chasers. After checking out the posts in that group, I could not but feel the ne supra crepidam sutor iudicaret yet again. I say yet again, because I have been there before (please see my article #21).
The image below was taken by a well-known Milkyway photographer, Dan Zafra in Death Valley couple of weeks ago. (https://capturetheatlas.com/ ) My image was taken couple of years ago around the same time. By the way, the orange blobs you see below are some of the nebulae in the Milkyway galaxy. The equipment is very similar, the location is similar. Dan’s image was taken at Mud flats and mine was taken at Borax Harmony. The image below was reproduced with the permission from Dan Zafra.
The above is one of the examples from the Milkyway chasers’ group and I am sure you would not find fault with me if these images reprimand me to not be that tailor again.
Epilog: I came across this quote (author unknown to me) about perspectives that is relevant here. “You can seem like a millionaire to one person and a homeless person to the next. The ants think you are a giant and the trees don’t even notice you. You think you have a boring life, but the next person might be striving for your lifestyle.
Comparison is the thief of joy so stay kind and keep loving life. Life is all just a big game of perspective.” Very life affirming quote that is very profound.
But the question that I have is that what if the ant looks like a giant to me?
