In this insightful response to a blocked writer, Dan Harmon summed up the problem all creators face,
(W)e’re raised to think lack of confidence is synonymous with paralysis, but, let’s just be honest with ourselves and each other: we can only hope to be good writers.We can only ever hope and wish that will ever happen, that’s a bird in the bush. The one in the hand is: we suck. We are terrified we suck, and that terror is oppressive and pervasive… (so) Switch from team “I will one day write something good” to team “I have no choice but to write a piece of sh*t.”
The truth just kind of slaps you in the face right there doesn’t it? It’s the same truth Prax not only admits to but embraces as part of the structure of the app. We can let the perfect be the enemy of, well, any productivity at all, or we can admit that the first step is the hardest, so celebrate that win of starting and make the short journey through that first step fun!
How? Prax picks up where Mr. Harmon, and the rest of us strugglers, leave off. Since we can guarantee whatever we try at first isn’t going to be good, prax leans into the joy that can come from letting go of perfectionism. In a consequence free, curiosity-driven environment, you you move from “have to” to “get to.” You get to actually play with anything you try, and that frees you to not only take the focus off the end goal, but to squeeze every bit of fulfillment possible from the current attempt.
“Putting in the work,” is a good ethic, but replacing work with play is a better way forward. And that’s why our praxtitioners aren’t chosen for their mastery alone, they’re chosen for their joy for what they do so the curse of the expert never applies, only the joy of trying does. Sure, sucking at something is the first step at being sorta good at something, but there’s as much joy to experience in the first step as the last if you know how.
