miners

Two miners stumble about in a dark cave, wandering about haphazardly until they, by chance, happen to meet where a tiny but vivid glimmer has caught their eye.

It's a gem, a beauty, but mostly submerged in the hard rock floor.

"This will take some effort to work out, but I think the reward could be momentous," says one miner.

To his great joy, the other miner agrees.

The two miners set to work digging and refining the jewel. Unlike other miners who have found a less submerged rock, this one has no clear end date in sight. Still, the time goes by quickly because the miners enjoy working together and spending time together. One can shine the light while another uses his pick-ax, and the two can trade-off when one gets tired.

As time goes on, the miners start to discover a few imperfections within the rock. Few, if any, rocks are completely perfect, but some of these imperfections make it especially difficult to work quickly, as the angle and the fragility of the rock are somewhat more difficult to maneuver than others.

Over time, the other miner grows discouraged at the sight of these imperfections, doubt creeping in her mind.

"These unforeseen difficulties are indeed not ideal, but I think this makes our jewel unique. The imperfections could even turn out to be marks of salience, making our jewel more valuable because of how much effort we put into getting it out of this cave," says the first miner, perhaps overly optimistic about such matters.

As time passes, the jewel has taken on a certain brilliance uniquely chiseled from the distinctive style of the miners. It's clear that either the miners finish the job, or the rock will be abandoned.

Sadly, more than halfway through their excavation, the first miner is left alone with the pick, and no one to hold the light. The jewel, still partly submerged but now representing a fuller picture of its unique characteristics and potential, is left in the dust.

Perhaps there is a perfect diamond out there somewhere, ripe for plucking without imperfection and without difficulty. Or perhaps that was never the point of mining in the first place.