Perfection


I've been mowing my grass for years and years. I do it on the same day every week. I wear the same shoes and I go and grab the same mower from the same place it's always stored and I start mowing from the same spot. That's where the routine stops. In spite of nothing else changing I can never seem to follow the same mowing path. I’m always trying to find a better one. Mowing a full circuitous route, mowing in lines, mowing in broken up sections. I’ve found bad ways of doing it, then I alter it a bit the next time, then a bit more until it’s better. I’ll take a slightly different path around the flowers and bushes and see what comes of it. Eventually I’ll feel I’ve found a truly good way of doing it that I’m happy with. This, I’ll think to myself, is the best way to mow this lawn.

Then I’ll do it differently the next week.

I have my routines but I can never keep them the same for long. I often think I’ve found the perfect way of doing something but I’m never satisfied. My exercise routine, the recipes I cook, the way I work. I can always do them better the next time. If I didn’t believe that I don’t think I’d want to keep doing them at all. Perfection is boring.