The Third Coat

It’s fun to paint the first coat. The new paint is covering the old paint…the progress is easy to see and the sweet satisfaction comes quickly.

But it’s also easy to tell from the beginning that a second coat is going to be necessary. While first coat makes a huge difference it’s still somewhat transparent…no big deal, everyone knows it’s normal to do two coats, so two coats it is.

The second coat is ok to paint. It’s not as fun as the first. There’s not as much contrast but it’s part of the job. Gotta finish and make it look good.

Two coats complete. Standing back in victory, it looks great.

But walking up closer…is a different story.

It needs a third.

Yep, it needs a third.

As much as the second coat was suppose to be the final coat, it isn’t. It’s just not there yet.

The third coat isn’t fun at all. It barely makes a difference…but the difference it makes is vital. The third coat takes it from almost done to completely done.

This is how a lot of projects go.

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Exercise and Jazz

In the world of exercise…the best way to get good at the second set is to add a third set to your routine. Pretty soon the third set becomes your problem instead of the second.

In the same way…

Sometimes I play jazz. I am not a great jazz player but the drummer, Jordan Perlson, is. A couple times during a set I’ll swing big and try to get crazy. He hears this, matches my crazy and raises the crazy...playing strange exotic fills over bar lines and emphasizing deep arhythmic subdivisions all while maintaining complete control. I, however, get fully lost. No clue where I am. No clue where he is. He brings it back around perfectly and I look like a fool for a few beats while I wait to recognize the ‘one’ again. It’s the best.

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Fun and Games

It’s all fun and games until the game starts.

It’s fun to get the likes for your perfectly posed picture on Instagram.

It’s easy to fake like you can sing in tune on your records.

It’s cool to go out and hang with the cool crowd, act like the cool crowd, dress like the cool crowd…and maybe even BE the cool crowd.

But when you have to go up on a stage…you are left with you and your songs. None of the other stuff matters at that point. It’s real. It’s serious business. Everyone is going to see what you really have.

This is the real game to be won. Because if you can win the game on stage you’ll never be a loser.

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Blender Height

When I wash the blender pitcher I then put it back on the base. After that I wash the lid and put the lid on the pitcher. But the pitcher and lid are still a little bit wet…so I put the lid on upside down on the pitcher and that way everything can air dry.

After I perform this sequence comes the grand finale…sliding the whole thing back under the cabinets until next time.

And it fits under the cabinets. Just barely. A miracle. A miracle?

It’s like they knew. Like they knew what the standard counter top to cabinet height was…and to come in just below that with the lid flipped over…so that I could put it away while it was drying.

If it was a half an inch taller I would have to leave the whole thing in the middle of the kitchen counter until it was dry. Not the end of the world and doesn’t affect the blender’s performance in any way.

But no. It’s better this way. It doesn’t have to be but it sure is nice.

It’s worth considering how the things we make will play out in real life…and what features, while (maybe) having nothing to do with the thing itself, would make it better for the people who buy in.

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The Great Thing About Playing The Huge Show

Is that it reveals what you know is true…you can do it too. That while a big gig is way different than a small one, they’re pretty much the same.

It’s a stage, some speakers and a microphone…just bigger and louder.

It reveals that the magic never came from the size of the venue or the size of the crowd but the communication and connection of music, artist and audience.

Playing that huge show for the first time strips away all the mystique and then adds more mystique than could ever be understood.

The huge show doesn’t provide a huge leap in confidence but it does provide a bigger mirror for reflection.

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A Huge Show's Worth Of Confidence

If you get to play a really huge show, you don’t get an equally really huge boost in confidence because of it. You simply get one show’s worth of confidence because of it. And it’s a real building block but it’s probably smaller than you were hoping for.

You may have some natural talent that tends to work well in the marketplace…but most of your staying power will come from staying with it…letting the tiny incremental breakthroughs pile up.

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