While working on a poster for our church's monthly women's event, I noticed a perfect visual for something I hear often. We're reminded in lots of different ways to not give up. We have to start and push through messy beginnings in order to accomplish anything good.
In her book about writing, Anne Lammot calls this "shitty first drafts." Sorry for the language, but there's just no better way of putting it. That is exactly how I feel when I'm first starting something new. Whether it's starting a poster design, writing a first draft, or diving into simplifying a cluttered closet. It looks terrible, feels difficult, and hardly seems possible that anything progress can be made.
That's absolutely how I felt when I started working on that event poster. I'm not a designer (I'm really not), so these beginnings feel especially brutal. I start wondering why I agreed to help and doubting that it will get done. But I push through. I start, then I keep tinkering and moving things around. And before I know it, I have something that's good enough. Sure, it doesn't compare to what a trained or experienced designer could do. But it's good enough for what it needs to be. And pretty great when compared to that awful beginning.
Whatever you're facing that's feeling overwhelming, don't give up. There is always a good enough ending if you can push passed that messy beginning.
Progress is made one tiny start after another. -- Simplicity Versus: The Ebook.
