Vision and execution

An excerpt from Art and Fear, by David Bayles and Ted Orland. A young David Bayles began taking piano lessons from a Master. Here’s how it’s told in the book:

“After a few months’ practice, David lamented to his teacher, ‘But I can hear the music so much better in my head than I can get out of my fingers.’

“To which the Master replied, ‘What makes you thing that ever changes?’

“… Lesson for the day: vision is always ahead of execution — and it should be.”

* * *

The story resonates.

Our infinite creativity lives in a finite world. Our imagination is always one step better than what can be crafted and produced.

There’s no sense in lamenting this gap: it’s the natural way of things.