You can't get to wonderful without passing through all right.
- Bill Withers
I love this quote.
The thought works on both a macro and micro scale.
Over their lifetimes our great artists, writers, musicians, and designers all went through “all right” before they came into their genius. The arcs of their careers contain at least one or two periods that aren’t as good as others. The important thing is that they did the work. They got it out there. They kept going.
On a smaller scale a well-executed project typically goes through multiple iterations – it never pops out fully formed, perfect, “wonderful”. Impactful creative people all sketch, prototype, and make drafts. Their individual works travel through the land of “all right” on their way to wonderful. The rough drafts and requisite wrong turns help create the happy accidents and intuitive leaps that make something great.
So – do the work. Then make it better. Travel through that land of all right on your way to wonderful.
