I used to worry about each word of every post that appeared in this blog. In my quest for perfection, I’d often hogtie myself and not be satisfied with anything I wrote, writing and rewriting, ad infinitum.
And then I heard a story about a pottery teacher who divided his class into two groups. The students in Group 1 would be graded based on the quality of a single pot turned in at the end of the semester, while the students in the Group 2 would be graded solely on the number of pots submitted during the term.
At the end of the semester, students in Group 2—measured on quantity—actually produced better pots than those who strove for quality. In the process of creating a large number of pots, the second group learned from their mistakes and changed their processes accordingly, while those in the first group had been all but paralyzed trying to make one perfect pot.
Mistakes move us forward. We learn, we adjust, and we do even better. I like to think my writing has progressively improved during the 18 months I’ve been getting something out there. Admittedly, some entries have been “better,” or more thought-provoking, but I believe that every bit of writing has helped me hone my craft.
So naturally, the “best” is yet to come!
