Good, Better, Best

           It went with a beat (one in my head), and it often would rhyme. First it was lyrics I'd write. It wasn't good (ninty-five percent of it or so anyway). At some point poetry began to show up (can't remember when), and I learned how to write poetry and discovered it came naturally for me. I used to rhyme EVERYTHING written; EVERYTHING. The more I consider why this was, my experiences with gangsta rap music came to mind and their rhyming ability (good content or not) impressed me. 

            It wasn't until the discovery of poetry that WASN'T rhyming scheme though that everything would change. This became good. It wasn't great, it was good. Poetry, all.the.time. when I'd write. I still love to write poetry, but better was on the way quicker than I knew. 

             Fiction and nonfiction used to TERRIFY me. The thought of such pressure to create seemed a mountain to me, one I wasn't able to climb.....yet. Then I'd try. Nonfiction wouldn't pan out well, but fiction shocked me at how well we would get along. I say it that way because fiction was more like a friend to me as I wrote (metaphorically speaking). I'd write and good became better. Better with HOW I'd write. Better with the ideas and "mountains" I began climbing; yet best was on the road ahead. 

             I'd read, and read, and listen; until Victor showed me something amazing: how. Les Miserables author Victor Hugo demonstrated poetry, fictional story telling, and a bit of nonfiction (from the history he took from to write his story) and it all changed. EVERY piece of writing became my best (notice how I didn't say perfect). It was the best I could do (EVEN when I was editing and writing rough drafts)! Here, every bit of good was perfected each time to my best. It was practice that changed it all (and STILL does). Nonfiction followed soon after and the one aspect of writing that was most difficult was easier than I knew. This became my best at it's peak performance. 

.              This translates to much more than writing though (most don't know that). I have not perfected anything, I just keep honing it all to get from good to best. Sometimes it's a wash and fails miserably, other times I must work my way up a "mountain" (where I must sometimes look at it's height and work up courage through prayer before ever even climbing it). Practice, in all things practice will lead to best (whatever that might be). Practice can be fun and even rewarding when growth and confidence happen, and this is what I've been learning more and more. Let's practice, even if we must start by approaching the base of these "mountains" in our lives to learn how to best climb them (see what I did there?). 

Sidenote: If any of the writing on this blog has made a good impact on your life in someway (EVEN if it was something you may have enjoyed reading for a particular reason), please feel free to share this blog with someone else who could be blessed also. Thank you for your support!