“New blog, who dis?” or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the possibility of my blog bombing
“Anything that’s worth doing is worth doing badly.”
That quote was attributed to Christian philosopher G. K. Chesterton, or at least it’s wrongly attributed to him. I’ve been seeing this quote pop up sporadically in my Facebook feed and my Reddit feed, and it’s been eating at me for a bit. I think it really holds up and means something. Which is why I was annoyed when I looked it up and found an article that says it’s a misquote. Chesterton actually said something else and it was taken out of context, and the Internet played Chinese whispers with it (is it still okay to say that?) and it became this phrase.
So that’s wack.
Just like the many memes on the interwebs, this phrase took on an organic and definition-changing life of its own in the nebula of cyberspace. And also like memes, that doesn’t mean that it has lost all meaning and is now just empty gibberish to be ignored. I believe this sentiment still has some validity to it. What this saying is getting at is that if something is worth doing, one should at least take a stab at it, even if you might not make a good job of it. Hardly anyone is going to hit the ground running or come out swinging the first time they do something, and that should not stop one from even trying the thing. Arguably, not doing something is worse than doing it poorly; at least with an amateur-ish attempt at something, there is some experience to be had, and that all-important first step has been taken.
I’m reminded of a joke I saw once on Twitter about how the best way to avoid failure is to be so anxious about something, you never make an attempt at it in the first place. I can’t for the life of me remember exactly where I saw this, but I might link it in the future if I do find it. Even though that speaks to my existential-crisis-ridden millenial sense of humor, it’s something that I’ve noticed I’ve used as a crutch or an excuse for not starting on a lot of things. I’ll learn how to make videos later when I’m good at it. I’ll start watching this series when I can devote time to it. I can’t write this paper or start this blog now because it’s not good enough and nobody’s gonna read it. And that’s how this blog (and really, this whole website) sat in development hell for weeks, as a handful of ideas scratched out of a strew of post-its on my desk in front of me. Watching me, judging me for not working on it but somehow still finding the time to open Steam or flick through Twitter for the 37th time today.
And so I’ve started (consciously and inadvertently) to remind myself of the contary, of how I shoud do a thing even if it isn’t going to come out perfect. I’m reminded by one of my favorite TED talks ever, that I like to go back and watch every so often, given by Sir Ken Robinson on how to harness creativity in children, where he says “if you’re not prepared to be wrong, then you’ll never come up with anything original.”
I’m reminded by one of my favorite YouTubers, Simone Giertz, the “Queen of Shitty Robots”, in yet another TED talk where she talks about how making a shitty solution to a problem is a good first step in making a good solution to a problem.
And I’m reminded by this saying:
“Anything that’s worth doing is worth doing badly. - G. K. Chesterton”
- The Internet
So this is my roundabout and pseudo-inspirational way of saying that I’ve finally gotten off my ass and started off this blog with this shitty first post. It’s a little rambly, sure. And a lot of these post might be similarly rambly, and largely written without copious drafting. It’s just me smacking these chimp-like hands at my RGB typewriter until something vaguely Shakespearean pops up.
But here’s the thing: I love writing. I’ve loved it ever since I was a kid, and writing short stories (though not fully original) and essays (though not always advised) was always a passion of mine. it was an especially big thrill for me when one of my essays made it into my school’s annual magazine. Writing is a big part of my work now as a researcher and a PhD candidate. Writing academic papers is a different kettle of fish, though, and it’s started to change my relationship with writing for better and for worse. While I do still like writing, it’s the structure and constraints of writing for a specific format and/or topic that somewhat kills my buzz. So perhaps blogging in a rambly fashion, and about anything I happen to feel passionately about of have an opinion on (and believe me, I have a lot of opinions), can help me find that flow in wiritng again.
And also this gives me a platform for my voice to be sounded, even if there isn’t always anyone to hear it. I don’t have to wait for my turn on the soapbox. I’ve got my own soapbox now. With blackjack. And hookers.
I’ll be in my corner.
