Craftsmen are cursed in any endeavor they pursue. The curse is the gap between their vision and reality.
It’s not easy to live up to the imperfection. Some cultures develop entire world views dedicated to accepting the imperfection. For example, the Japanese have wabi-sabi.
Whether it’s career, how a project was delivered at work, or even the result of a home improvement project, we’re burdened with the gap.
We enjoy the finished product. Yet knowing where expectations didn’t meet execution forever taunts us.
The sense of imperfection attenuates with time. But it never dissipates.
I used to think that agonizing over the delta was my curse alone. That those who I clearly knew to be masters in their craft didn’t suffer this. I was wrong.
I only got 25% of what I wanted on Star Wars.
I can see all the scotch tape and the rubber bands that are holding it together.
But that’s how movies get made. They don’t get made right. They get made the best possible way under the circumstances.
Lest we think it’s only the famous who suffer this.
You live it and breath it for the whole time you’re doing it…
In my head I can visual the images I’ve been looking at…
I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied no matter how well I’ve made a piece. I just think it’s in my nature to always think I could have done better.
Where we see perfection, they see anything but. Welcome to the club.