May 2, 2023

If you have an idea, just make it

It’s simple, but profound – if you have an idea, just make it. Sure, it almost always won’t meet the expectations you had set for yourself; things never seem to come out as good as you can see them in your head. But, if all they do is swirl around your head as ideas, things get worse, not better. We build a list of all the things we haven’t done, not all the things we’ve accomplished.

Finishing is important. If you have an idea, and you make it, you’ll learn something. And if you learn something, you’ll find another idea, and another, and eventually, if you make enough of your ideas, you might even find yourself improving – or, at the very least, iterating toward something you can be proud of. And, regardless of if anyone pays for anything you make, isn’t the idea that we had fun along the way? After all, yesterday’s work is the best we can do, which means tomorrow’s will be better.

Other observations
July 7, 2026

Polishing the rice

What can I learn from how brewers help or hinder the flavour profile of rice when they’re making sake?

June 30, 2026

14,500 days unnoticed

If I’ve only noticed the sunrise a handful of times out of tens of thousands of daily opportunities. What else have I missed?

June 23, 2026

Ready? Catch!

If we never know when the world will offer us a new idea, how can we best prepare for the moment when it inevitably comes?

June 16, 2026

Brain, Heart, Hips and Feet

If you feel like dancing, you probably wouldn’t book last minute tickets to a Chopin concert. So what’s bad music? And can bad books exist?

June 9, 2026

Exposure matters less and less

What changes in an art practice when the sharing of the work one makes becomes secondary to making the work in the first place?

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