Henriëtte Ronner: The Musicians (c. 1876 - 77)

" … betters tend to sum to worses …"

I think of myself as a Discerning person, my internal dialogue constantly comparing this to that and that to something else, seeking, if not best, better. I have little use for best and no reasonable way to determine its presence except by direct comparison. As a Discerning person, I am continually comparing, though, considering how well I'm doing. I often feel dissatisfied without being able to imagine alternative means to improve my experience. The simple act of dissatisfaction rarely carried its antidote along. Usually, it is quite the opposite, as dissatisfaction prevents me from perceiving any alternative.

I had long been dissatisfied with how I created my Weekly Writing Summaries. They seemed to take forever to develop, and the process involved so many picky details that it seemed I'd always forget one, forcing me to backtrack. The usual couple of hours I might spend creating one of these daily stories might double when producing the summary for them; with so many cumbersome copies and pastes, I'd lose my place and interest. Consequently, I'd often publish after I'd grown disgusted with the process rather than after I'd polished the piece into fully finished.

Last week, though, the technology conspired to provide just the insight a Discerning person like me appreciates receiving. I had not been able to imagine any different means for producing that Summary until my primary posting engine failed me. I went to access my prior week's writings and found them all inaccessible. I didn't know at that moment if my work had evaporated or what precisely had happened, just that I would not be producing that summary the dissatisfying old-fashioned, usual way. I'd have to muster a different process, which I managed, though it felt like I was working left-handed. I was surprised how a break from the usual routine rendered even working left-handed more satisfying than working in my accustomed fashion had recently been. I completed my workaround in record time, understanding that I'd have to return to recreate my usual posting after my blog software started working again.

Early the following day, expecting my usual ordeal, I successfully opened my blog software, but I was able to successfully copy the alternate version into my blog master with just a couple of supplementary copies and pastes. I produced the version that usually took me four hours to produce in under half an hour. I'd almost cut the production time in half even though I'd created the initial version left-handed. I had stumbled upon an innovation worth retaining. I will finish this writing week with much less foreboding than I had grown accustomed to experiencing.

I can usually see better when better arrays itself before me. Until then, my imagination often proves wanting. Better often appears by accident, requiring me only to notice its presence. The idea that I might somehow be creative doesn't usually stand up to scrutiny. I'm mostly lucky, and mostly after I've felt anything but lucky. I was once cursed with an arcane process for producing my Weekly Writing Summaries before I was blessed with a typical technology failure. Shortly after, I backed into a previously unimaginable better means to achieve my result. All I had to do, discerning character I am, was notice the overwhelmingly obvious. I will eventually, I’m confident, hone this fresh discovery into another form of drudgery, mainly by means of repeatedly Discerning the infinitesimally better. That betters tend to sum to worses notwithstanding, another happy accident will be lurking, waiting for my Discerning eye to notice its presence and for me to accept its prescience.

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