About the "good enough" school of thought.
Today I am thinking about the "good enough" school of thought
and about contradictions because I would say that I am from the "good enough school of thought" when it comes to things I make except, I also never cease to want to know how to do things better.
Is that a contradiction? Maybe not.
The idea that good enough actually IS good enough allows me to enjoy the process of making what I know how to make. But it also allows me the courage to try new things because I don't have to be afraid that the result won't be 'good enough'.
Learning how to make something new always requires accepting that things don't necessarily go as well in the real world as they do in your head.
Your brain and body have to figure out how to make the moves that manipulate the materials, learn the sequence of steps, understand what the materials involved will and won't do.
I remember in my first textile art classes the instructor would show us materials, slides of examples, demo a technique, but at some point every time she would say "Now you have to get up and do something"
Making always involves the body getting up and doing the first thing and then the next thing and then the next thing until a new thing exists in the physical world because you made it exist.
Good enough is not indifference to technique and skill development.
Good enough is the idea that lets you step away from a project and move forward.
Good enough lets you stop fussing with a finished project (or a project that should be finished...or even a project that can really never go "right" :-D) There is a time to call it good enough and step away.
Getting better at a technique, or trying a new skill, requires being able to accept that what you have made is good enough so that you can move on to the next thing.
Every project IS its own thing of course, but also it is the practice piece that you learn from for the next thing you make. Embracing 'good enough' set you free to do more things, and to become better with practice.
As always, enjoy your projects,
Susan