WHO GIVES A FLOCK?

By: Bethany Walter

15-06-2012

Who gives a flock? I do. A lot. Sometimes to the point of paralysis. I’ve been learning that sometimes the things I am the best at, are the things I don’t place any importance on, things that I, nor anyone else expects me to be good at. I’ve learned to ski, rock climb, play some piano and it all came naturally to me. I suspect this is because if I lower the bar, I allow myself to be imperfect. This allows me to focus on what I am doing rather than if I am good at it or not.

I like a quote by Ira Glass that a few of you may have read before.

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
― Ira Glass

I’m going through the awkward phase. Just as Ira Glass says, I have killer taste but my work isn’t at the same level yet. Until I read his quote, I always thought that I needed to keep working on a project until it completely satisfied my taste, a very unrealistic standard. No artist has all the time in the world to make sure everything they produce is gold. We have to learn to suck it up and accept we have to crap out some turds before we get to the good stuff. The other option is less desirable and that is to learn to have mediocre taste.

When I find myself over analyzing my work, I remind myself I need to have fun and go poison some geese in the park.

This is me calling the geese closer.

If you are wondering what is wrong with me, blame my father for raising me with Tom Lehrer music.

Anywho . . . about the outfit:

Vintage flower dress: RN17819 (ie Kingly Manufacturing Group), thrift store

I’ve never seen a dress before without a brand label. Apparently a RN is a registered number for manufacturing companies if they do not put their name on their clothing.