"I only distribute pigs to early risers. Fern was up at daylight trying to rid the world of injustice. As a result, she now has a pig. A small pig, to be sure, but nevertheless, a pig. It just shows what can happen if a person gets out of bed promptly."
—Henry Arable, in E.B. White's Charlotte's Web
I was up at 6:30 this morning, just about at daylight. I headed to the pool to swim a few laps and was home by 7:30 in time to take Tracey to work. And now it's 8:30, and I'm home, at the computer and ready to work. Having already worked out, showered, and eaten breakfast, I am free to get down to the difficult business of time-wasting. Somewhere in here there's a point.
And I think that last sentence was the point.
I'm learning—slowly, piecemeal—that as Annie Dillard said, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." This is true not only because wasting days will eventually turn into wasting your life, although that sobering notion should probably be more cause for my concern than it is. It is also true in the opposite way, which is the lesson I've been trying to internalize for over a year now. That is to say, if you want to get good at something, I mean really good at it, you have to do it. Based on the testimony of a rather diverse group of witnesses—Annie Dillard, Anne Lamott, Malcolm Gladwell, my friend Jason, Stephen King, Merlin Mann, to name only a few—I have reached the verdict that doing something of consequence does not require a whole lot more than actually making an effort.
And that's the problem, because making a real effort at doing something requires time. A lot of time. It's not just about getting up early (though that, for me, is probably a key factor) or shutting off Twitter/Facebook/BBC.co.uk/Halo 3/whatever distracts you (though again, do that too). The much bigger sacrifice for me is that I am beginning to think that I will have to forsake some things I enjoy if I want to excel at something specific.
I am left with a choice, or maybe a series of choices. Take creative and artistic endeavors, for example. I am a pretty good saxophone player, a fairly decent guitarist, and a solid writer. I also dabble in photography and a couple other artistic things. Let's say I wanted to become truly excellent at one of them. I think it's within my grasp to do so. But I don't know that it's possible without letting go of the hope of being "pretty good" at the others.
I'm not sure I'm willing to do that just yet. See, deep down inside, I have this burning desire to be the best at everything. Being better than most people at several things is a delightfully convenient cover for my failure to be the best at anything. The excuse goes something like this: "Oh sure, he plays guitar WAY better than I do, but I bet I'd kick his ass if we played basketball." Or if the tables are turned and I get dunked on in a basketball game, I imagine a rather hilarious scenario where the player who just embarrassed me tries to play the saxophone. It's helpful.
Except that it ensures that I never really will become the best at anything. Jack of all trades, master of none. And ain't that a shame.
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7 comments:
Certainly food for thought there Scott. I waffle between that myself. I haven't yet come down on whether I believe being the best at anything is actually worth giving up other endeavours. And maybe, as you shared, that's my own inadequacy or fear speaking.
No, it's not a shame. Why do you need to be the best at something? I think there's equal merit at being very good at many things.
I think it's also dangerous to assume that we are "wasting days" because we are late risers or don't compete specific tasks at specific times. That's something I've had to come to grips with lately. That there's not some perfect ideal of productivity or personal value.
Now, if you have a personal desire to get better at something or rise early, then you should pursue it. But don't pursue it because you think you're a wasted human being if you don't.
Also, the memory of listening to that audiobook with my kids on the way to Boston is always a fond memory for me. I can still here EB White reading "I only distribute pigs to early risers."
Oh my gosh, I can't believe I misspelled "hear"!
Scott,
Maybe this is a cop out but striving to be better, is in my mind way better than striving to be the best. There is ALWAYS someone who is better at things than you are. Does that mean what you can do and do do is a waste? Not to my way of thinking. Then again, like I said, it may just be a cop out because I don't feel I am the best at anything....and have no desire to be...
I agree with Lisa that there is merit to being good at many things and also if you have a personal desire to get better at something, then go on pursue it, full steam ahead.
I think things done passionately and to the best of YOUR ability, is a good goal to go for.
I can't beat you at basketball, the saxophone or the guitar... oh, and that blog was really easy to read - yikes!
I'm 100% on the same page with Lisa and Heidi. I'll repeat, for emphasis: There is great merit in being good at many things.
But even aside from that point, I am personally fulfilled by having a variety of pursuits in my life. Even if I could be literally the best person in the entire world at a very worthwhile endeavor, I would not be happy if I did not have time to pursue many others and be at least good at those.
It's an old cliche, but one I fervently subscribe to: "Variety is the spice of life."
And when one faces death square in the face he no longer desires to be the best at anything save that which will endure past his brief existence. He rudely discovers that his life is reduced to a mere single entry on the ancestry tree; only those who follow after and find their origins in him, give life and meaning beyond his days.
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