“Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else.”
~Sara Blakely, founder-Spanx Inc., author, b.2/27/1971
Yesterday was Shannon’s birthday, so it was a good time for me to leave a review on Amazon for her new book.
Upon sharing that, she mentioned something about her next book, which will be a book of poetry. YAY! She’s already planning and working on book 3!!
Remember Joyce Carol Oates… 70+ books and still writing around two per year now in her 80’s!?!
It starts, one book at a time, and then another.
Excellent example of how once we get in the flow of the habit of creativity, it’s easier to stay there and to pick up momentum. The more Shannon writes the more she has to write and the more ideas she has for future books.
I suggested that she take the time to go deep on each poem as she goes through editing them to get them ready for her book. From my experience of writing and editing, there’s always more that I see to do to improve. Yet... there’s also a point at which you have to let go the compulsion to perfection and to “just ship it” as Seth Godin coined.
Then I shared that I’m listening to the Leonardo Da Vinci audiobook by renowned biographer, Walter Isaacson, and learned that a master artist such as Da Vinci kept more of his work than he ever sold. Apparently he would often go back and touch up and change and improve much of his work for years, and some for his entire life.
Shannon said, “Kudos to da Vinci. I dunno if I'll do that. I'm more of a river. Do it to the best of my ability, learn, grow, and move on to the next. It takes all I have to stay focused on one for a year Maybe that'll get better with time and age.”
LOL! Shannon is exactly right!
We need to continue refining and improving, (editing and revising) our work. AND… at some point — sooner than later — we have to set it free to sail into the world and be what it will be.
Like our children, we do our best to prepare them to voyage into becoming, and then we set them free to be. And with each one we learn the lessons of the art, and the heart… and the art and heart of lessons.
With each one we learn, grow and improve vastly more than if we kept working on it to perfection before ever putting it out there. Leonardo, in all his brilliance, left the majority of his work unfinished, unmanifest and unrealized.
We can only imagine what else may have been his legacy had he had not. And yet, all of his efforts went toward developing his skills, and his incredible mind and imagination. So… it was not lost, and indeed still serves the world today.
So don’t get stuck in procrastination or atelophobia. The time we have in this precious life is too important for that. Do the work… your work, and watch it grow and reflect back to you that growth.
And if you don’t yet know what your work is to be, just start where you are with what you’re inclined toward, and more will be revealed to you.
The more prolific we are the greater our progress through more rapid iteration and improvement. These days you don't need a map... you need a GPS, that can quickly recalculate your route as you make tweaks along the way..
Step onto your path and the way will appear. The journey is the way.
The day is the way to create the life you want to live.
☀️🌙 ⭐️
~ LeAura
Transformation through creation.
❤️🙏🏻🌹
