Badly

“Sometimes a person has to go a very long distance out of his way in order to come back a short distance correctly.” -Edward Albee, The Zoo Story

How long can you stay in the chair and write badly?

How long can you be on the stage and act badly?

How long can you stand behind the canvas and paint badly?

How long can you do anything badly?

Discipline and consistency are the tools that enable us to push through the badly. To keep showing up. To keep battling the voice inside. The resistance. For if we stay at anything long enough, our subconscious will kick in. As if to say, “Enough! Okay, I get it. This is important to you. You’re showing up every day. Here’s where you need to go. Do this.”

It’s why we get a second wind and expanded lung capacity from running. Why our muscles grow after repeatedly working out. Why our skills improve. Why creative breakthroughs and “Aha!” moments happen.

But first we need to start. And then keep going. Keep showing up. Often doing things badly. Day after day after day. Eventually, we’ll get to the other side. To the place we want to go. To the art and change we want to make.