Messes

In college, I had a professor who had his lecture notes bound in leather. Two things were unfortunate about this: first, the paper was plain yellow legal pad paper – not a very durable choice. But more importantly, he had decided that his lectures were immutable, perfect, and never needed changing. Just get up, regurgitate the fifth lecture, a cough here, tell the same tired joke there. I remember nothing about his class outside of this.

This staisis looks desireable. It’s not the sort of sloppy, rickety mess that most of us have.  the projects are not piled high. The gnarled bit of wood you brought home a year ago sits on the bench waiting for attention.

To have lived that static way, you have to forgo the mess and disorganization, but also the euphoria a genuinely creative life offers. You only go sailing in light air – barely any breeze. You never sail ripping along as closehauled to the wind as possible. You never allow the boat to heel over with spume splashing in. No change, no excitement, no pain, but no gain.

Go ahead, have a dozen projects going at once. Let the desk get a bit sloppy while playing with ideas. Do as I do and let the woodchips make a mess for a while.

Lots of people have said this, and it’s true – “A smooth sea, never a skillful sailor made.”