Remember that woman in the anti-smoking ads?

I was talking to a friend of mine about how difficult it is to get big projects done because one tends to overanalyze, and stop short, knowing that what one is making will never be perfect. I find that I need to take little steps each day in order to improve myself, especially when it has to do with projects seemingly without end. It is the culmination of the time spent that makes the difference, after all. I just whittle away at it bit by bit and, soon enough progress starts to take shape.

As for the fear of the imperfect, one should do things to enrich oneself, demonstrating the beauty of imperfection.

Suggestions:

1. Research some modern art and seek to see its underlying beauty.
2. Look at some photography from journalists specializing in people of the Third World--people without legs, old women with beautiful smiles but no teeth, this sort of thing. These people are beautiful despite what the world would see as their great physical flaws.
3. Participate in discussion groups that do not directly address your problem but get your juices (or, God forbid, venom) running.
4. Describe books recently read. Then, through this practice of analysis through objectivity, one can turn to one’s own work, with the goal of being objective about it.
5. Look at passersby. Are any of their features symmetrical? Are any of them beautiful in spite of or because of their assymetry? Ok, maybe they're not always beautiful, but they are interesting to look at.



My friend said that perfection will never be attainable for his/her own work. Well, I think that the very idea of perfection is a myth, the proverbial will-o'-the-whisp ne'er to be seen. It just doesn't exist. People will be drawn to certain work because it speaks to them, and in this admiration will feel that the work is nearly perfect. But, how many people do you know actually feel that way about their own work? If they did, wouldn’t that make them annoyingly vain? ‘Oh, yes, the last book I wrote was pure perfection.’ Somebody shoot that guy.

Duparc wrote 17 songs, all of which are highly revered as being great examples of Chanson. He actually tried to destroy several of them; they were later found and republished. Interestingly, when reflecting on this story, I am angry at Duparc. What if he had succeeded in destroying that which has enriched us all. What a bastard for trying to deprive us of desperately needed beauty in the world? One can see as an obvious example the correlation that I am trying to make. The more that the artist deprives the world of his talents and scholarly work, the more he denies the world what it needs. He, the artist, may, like Duparc, think that what he is doing is shit. We don't, though. And, frankly, we are the ones who get to judge it, not him.

Although, these were ideas originally intended for a friend, I, when re-reading them realized that they are words for myself. My only job is continuing improvement. I can achieve this by being critical of my work, yes. But, when the criticism becomes so great that I feel I should not go on, I know that I have gone too far. Way too far.

PS Note to self, singing is corporeal. That means that, when trying something out, you’ve got to give your body time to react and balance. In other words, don’t think that your world is shattering because you are trying something new and your voice is not the same old voice. Change hard, but change good.