In praise of mediocrity
For to permit yourself to do only that which you are good at is to be trapped in a cage whose bars are not steel but self-judgment.
First, go read the NY Times opinion piece titled In praise of mediocrity by Tim Wu. Before you ask, yes that's where I stole this post's title from! 🙈
That piece is of such high quality prose that I can only dream of being able to write one day! Look at this:
For to permit yourself to do only that which you are good at is to be trapped in a cage whose bars are not steel but self-judgment.
But my not-so-great writing skill is not going to stop me from writing. I write because I want to. Because I enjoy writing. And I know it's going to be fun to go back and read the silly posts I wrote decades back.
Something related: I've always wanted to learn Jazz on the piano. But there's one reason for me to not learn it — it's the only kind of music I don't understand one bit. And the day I learn Jazz, I know I'll never be able to enjoy it the way I do right now. (But I think I'll still learn it if I get the chance 😬)
Just to be clear: mediocrity is not acceptable, in my opinion, at work and other things that one must be taking seriously, like family for instance.
But that doesn't and shouldn't mean that you should be THE BEST at everything you do. No. It's okay to do things just because you enjoy doing them!
See, Tim Wu thinks so too:
But demanding excellence in all that we do can undermine that; it can threaten and even destroy freedom. It steals from us one of life’s greatest rewards — the simple pleasure of doing something you merely, but truly, enjoy.