The Enemy of Good is Better

It's true.

Sometimes I spend so much time trying to achieve perfection that I become wasteful--can I make it just a little bit better?

How much time do I spend trying to make something good, perfect? Or a little bit better?

Is it an act of pride?

Is it productive?

No, sometimes it is not productive at all. I can spend 90 percent of my time striving for a modest improvement--and I could have spent the additional time doing something really important.

An acquaintance of mine is publishing a new book of his poetry titled The Enemy of Good is Better.

Chris and I sit in front of him and his wife at Orioles baseball games as we have the same 13-game plan package. Over the years we have gotten to know them and look forward to chatting with them during the games. Catching up on life and talking about friends and family and the rhythm of life.

Only within the past year did I realize that he is a published poet--with his own book and a number of very prestigious awards. I purchased his first book--The Clock Made of Confetti. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and the poems--they are complex reading poems full of images and history and emotions.

So it was the title of his new book in pre-publication which really stirred me thinking about the use of time trying to make thing just a little bit better--when they were really good.

Nothing good, it seems, survives. It must be better or it decays into chaos.