Good Just Isn’t Good Enough

I Like Alice, Part 1

Yak’s is a 20 minute walk from home. For me, it’s often longer because I stop to take notes. On the bottom pages of my note pad, I write out thoughts and sentences that relate to work or projects. On the top, I keep notes for my lists and also the occasional observation about Dee’s behavior or Buddy’s art projects, or something that my friend Duke said that could be smart, or could be ironic.

If Duke were female, he might even say, “Are you calling me fatuous?” as if I had denigrated his image.

A note pad and a pen are such simple tools. The clients that cannot write always have elaborate organizational systems with huge binders, and computer programs, and systematized behaviors which are never simply internalized as basic habits. Bad thinking and elaborate systems go hand in hand, like certain 15 year-old girls and a large tool box full of messy cosmetics and clacky grooming tools.

If you cannot think clearly, you cannot write clearly. If you cannot organize your ideas, you cannot organize your life. On my walks, I often try to do both.

The product of clear thinking and organized ideas is tangible. It can be written down.

As Dee walked out this morning, she said, “Let’s have lunch.”

“Lunch? Today?”

“Don’t give me the I-like-to-plan-ahead speech. You looked great in bed this morning, asleep and peaceful. Can I help it if I love my husband and want to have a meal with him?”

“Hold on. Let me check my schedule.”

My schedule is in my head, not just for the day but typically for the week. Still, I went to my computer to scan for e-mail bombs and other things that might prevent an abrupt change in plans.

She waited, head cocked. I said, “I have a conference call tomorrow morning that I have already prepared for. Lunch will work fine. Is there any chance that you’ll have to change plans?”

“Today, I’ll blow off work if I have too. It doesn’t concern me.”

“Let’s meet at 11:45 so we’ll get there before the lunch crowd.”

“How about 12:45. That way we can hang out after the crowd and take our time?”

I left the duplex at 12:10, and arrived at Yak’s five minutes early. I had a few thoughts for my upcoming conference call that I could work on later. I think finishing projects well before the deadline is best. There is plenty of time for improvement that elevates good work to something meritorious. As they say, “Good just isn’t good enough anymore.”

… continued