The Idea Of The Thing Or The Thing?

I had a college friend, amateur philosopher, who used to drive me crazy by always asking the question, “Do you love the idea of the thing. Or the thing itself?”

No subject was safe from his philosophizing…future career plans, what to do on a Friday night, even potential girlfriends.

We’d have great debates. To him, I was just a constant dreamer. Always pursuing some movie version of a thing in my head. Which he claimed would set me up for grand disappointment. (Note: I still always do this.) I’d counter by asking how do you know what that thing actually is until you do it? Don’t you need the movie version, the idea off the thing, to motivate you to try.

Who was right?

I think we both were.

Before committing to a passion project, yes it’s good to find out everything about the process, warts and all. So you know what you’re getting into.

But art is about doing something that might not work. Creating something new. Manifesting the dream version that’s in your head.

To make the thing, you first need the idea of the thing.