It’s not always the same thing, but for many of us something happens and it changes our status quo. We want to be better.
Better is a subjective term but in this context we’re referring to improving existing skills or learning new ones. With any luck, you’re working on something that’s useful and meaningful for you and for other people. On top of that, if you’re interested in something that’s new and valuable, so much the better.
Blogger, writer, speaker and all around interesting guy Merlin Mann (of 43folders fame) wrote an essay about this subject which he titled Better. Here’s a key point worth considering:
What worries me are the consequences of a diet comprised mostly of fake-connectedness, makebelieve insight, and unedited first drafts of everything. I think it’s making us small. I know that whenever I become aware of it, I realize how small it can make me. So, I’ve come to despise it.
With this diet metaphor in mind, I want to, if you like, start eating better. But, I also want to start growing a tastier tomato – regardless of how easy it is to pick, package, ship, or vend. The tomato is the story, my friend.
The tomato is the story, indeed.
Here’s the thing: it’s easy to chase what’s popular and survive on the trail of breadcrumbs. For example, you could write about the latest in technology, popular culture, and social media. I’ve tried doing that and had a little bit of success in doing so.
But many of these things are transitory, laden with buzzwords and full of people filling the Web with content as they try to stake out their piece of the territory.
But, in my opinion, there are always fundamental questions waiting to be answered. Many of us read, write and do projects of all kinds, but we want to get better at doing these things. Getting better gives us more enjoyment in the day-to-day stuff of our lives and gives us more opportunities.
To borrow Merlin’s analogy: we want better tomatoes and sometimes we want to grow them ourselves.
Yes, effort is key to getting better (that famous 99% that Edison talked about) but good direction makes things more rewarding. So do examples, thought provoking questions, etc.
We’re trying to do our part to help people with their creative work and their ideas that need untangling. Maybe we can help each other grow better tomatoes. If you’re suffering from writer’s block, this kind of thinking may help you to move past it.
How can we help you get better?
Image by tanakawho
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To answer the question with which you ended your article; it helps to read thought-provoking and interesting material such as you’ve provided. Thanks!
And thank you!
It’s funny the tomato analogy should come up. Yesterday I found locally grown strawberries at the store, not the mushy rocks that are usually available from who knows where in the world. I was in heaven. They actually tasted like strawberries.
I often think that with my own blog, more or less about writing, “Who isn’t blogging about writing? What could I possibly come up with that would be different?”
All I ever come up with is, “better.” I want my own strawberries and I want to grow my own.
Hmm … That sounds like I think my blog IS better. That’s not what I meant. It means that’s what I want to be when I grow up.
I understood what you meant, Bill. Thanks!
Just this morning I was thoughtwrestling about the differences between Art and Craft, and between Art and Science. And the desire to improve, to be better, to grow, is central to the idea of Craft. The drive toward mastery, even if we never get there. And the importance of inviting others to come along.
Good stuff, Mark, thank you.
Thanks Susan. Mastery, “better”… exactly.
[...] I have to trust that the people I work for will still want me around when I’m doing fewer things, better. [...]