Doing Something Well
Written by admin June 30th, 2008 in on the wayBy E. B. White
I have no heroes, no saints. I do have a tremendous respect for anyone who does something extremely well, no matter what. I would rather watch a really gifted plumber than listen to a bad poet. I’d rather watch someone build a good boat than attend the launching of a poorly constructed play. My admirations are wide-ranging and are not confined to arts and letters.
Source: The New Yorker
Right on!
I have tremendous respect for anyone who does something well. The discipline, the training, the skill required are truly wonderful to behold. However because of our high stressed, high pressured, unwarranted amount of pressure placed on our lives by ourselves, our parents, our culture, I am becoming equally impressed with people who give themselves permission to do things imperfectly and “not well but well enough just because they desire the joy of creating and experimenting. I think we have to get over the major perfection syndrome.
Just one more perfectionist, Laura Elwood
I used to follow car racing, from go-carts up through and including the Indianapolis 500 competitors. When at a race, I would listen as well as look for the gifted driver(s), and watch and enjoy the skill that it takes to race elegantly.
I was in my late teens when Mohammad Ali was boxing (that’s showing my age), and loved it when he “floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.”
I always have enjoyed skill in others, as I feel so awkward myself.
My favorite is watching someone bake bread or roll up pastry.
In response to the entry of E.B. White, “Doing Something Well”, I concur. At the risk of being heard as a “bad poet”, I submit one I finished an hour ago:
time never ends
never waits
never cares
it cannot be collected
nor captured
it is given
and may be given
to be of use or not
it is spent
for the price of life
M. Ruff 7-01-08