What Do You Expect?

That's Me with My Painting Accepted into the Northwest Watercolor Society INTERNATIONAL Show!

Anyone who tries to make something—a painting, a poem, even a quilt—runs into the same problem. What’s in your head rarely shows up on the page the way you imagined. Ira Glass calls the distance between your brain belief and what you actually produce “the gap.” He claims that the more work that you put in, the narrower this gap becomes.

Malcolm Gladwell famously suggested that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become proficient. I doubt I’ve logged that many hours, but when I look at some of my early work, I can see the gap has narrowed.

Here’s another thought about expectations. Denmark is often ranked as one of the happiest countries in the world. That catches my attention because my father was a full-blooded Dane. One explanation is that Danes keep their expectations modest. I heard that was a Norwegian perspective. I can’t find it in the research.

For artists and other creatives, lowering expectations entirely isn’t the answer. But giving yourself some grace while learning your craft certainly helps. Expect perfection too soon, and frustration will follow.

Aging raises its own expectations. Hoping to keep the same body and mind forever works only in the imagination.

But one expectation is worth holding on to: wake up expecting a good day. That simple habit can narrow the gap between hope and reality—and that’s a very good thing.

Ira Glass: https://vimeo.com/85040589

Malcom Gladwell: Outliers, 2008