{"id":1022,"date":"2016-06-29T16:28:57","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T20:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clarindawrites.com\/?p=1022"},"modified":"2016-06-29T21:00:06","modified_gmt":"2016-06-30T01:00:06","slug":"le-mieux-est-lennemi-du-bien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clarindawrites.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/29\/le-mieux-est-lennemi-du-bien\/","title":{"rendered":"Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three weeks ago, I walked away from my job of four and a half years. The adjustment has been jarring.<\/p>\n

The adjustment has also been the best. (It will surprise no one to know that I’ve already returned to working twelve-to-fourteen-hour days. Only now, I work for myself.) I have weekends again and actual days off that are full days off–if I want them. I have time to put toward the things I want to accomplish with my life, to travel, to code, to write, to explore problems that affect us, and to work toward solving those problems. The freedom is exquisite.<\/p>\n

I will no doubt share the projects I’m working on in more detail in the coming months, but I wanted to take a moment and talk about clarindawrites<\/a>. Four months ago today, I launched this website. It was my first time making a website, and I’d say I managed to maintain and improve it haphazardly at best: I had other obligations that required most of my time and attention (see aforementioned job). But those commitments are now concluded, and I can focus on this project.<\/p>\n

On Mondays, I plan to keep posting art from around the world<\/a>.\u00a0And on Fridays, I plan to keep posting material to explore over your weekends<\/a>.\u00a0But Wednesdays will be writing days. On Wednesdays, I’ll post something I’ve written, no matter how terrible. And yes, this post is the first in what I hope will turn into a streak.<\/p>\n

Full disclosure–I made clarindawrites<\/a> to use as a laboratory for different things I wanted to try on the internets. For this first Writing Wednesday post, I drafted a long piece about the Brexit, a longer essay on the rise of anti-intellectualism and its effects on politics, and even a listicle on accountability and productivity. Unfortunately, none of those articles seemed ready enough to publish, which means I must abandon the notion of “ready enough to publish.” The French have an expression they attribute to Voltaire who himself attributes it to an unnamed Italian sage in his poem “La B\u00e9gueule”: “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.”<\/p>\n

Translated to English, the aphorism reads, “The best is the enemy of the good.” One might never complete a task if one keeps working at it until it’s perfect.<\/p>\n

The only thing that needs to be perfect in a laboratory are the conditions in which to conduct one’s experiments. And even then, good is enough.<\/p>\n

We have the conditions. It’s time to complete some tasks.<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three weeks ago, I walked away from my job of four and a half years. The adjustment has been jarring. The adjustment has also been the best. (It will surprise no one to know that I’ve already returned to working twelve-to-fourteen-hour days. Only now, I work for myself.) I have weekends again and actual days […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[40,43,19,3,1,53],"tags":[6,10,15],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clarindawrites.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/IMG_6950.jpg?fit=4096%2C2725&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ngIK-gu","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1712,"url":"https:\/\/clarindawrites.com\/index.php\/2017\/09\/06\/welcome-all-guests\/","url_meta":{"origin":1022,"position":0},"title":"Welcome all guests","date":"September 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"On windy days, I open the balcony doors. Atlanta is not as hot as it used to be. Last month, it was cooler than Portland, cooler than Mykonos, cool enough, at times, for me to feel cold. I've been gone for half this year and so occupied July and August\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clarindawrites.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_8129.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":924,"url":"https:\/\/clarindawrites.com\/index.php\/2016\/05\/24\/tuesday-art-post-the-art-market-in-four-parts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1022,"position":1},"title":"Tuesday art post: The Art Market (in Four Parts)","date":"May 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Art Market (in Four Parts): Auctions (4 mins 20 secs) https:\/\/vimeo.com\/167105431","rel":"","context":"In "Media"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clarindawrites.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_6817.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1366,"url":"https:\/\/clarindawrites.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/01\/hiatus-over\/","url_meta":{"origin":1022,"position":2},"title":"Hiatus Over","date":"February 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm back! Last year, I quit my job, moved, and bought a place for my books to live. I spent June through December in experiments. I traveled. I wrote. I accomplished a goal I've had since I was eight. And I carried out several dozen studies in efficiency and accountability.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entrepreneur Life"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clarindawrites.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_1768.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":477,"url":"https:\/\/clarindawrites.com\/index.php\/2016\/05\/03\/what-inspires-you-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1022,"position":3},"title":"What inspires you (part 2)","date":"May 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi All, I'm conducting an experiment. Every first Tuesday of a month, I'll post something of note that we can all discuss together in the comments. Think of it as a digital roundtable seminar. Last month's seminar is still going and will remain open through December since several readers have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Digital Seminar"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clarindawrites.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Easter-scavenger-hunt-1st-pic-for-Camino-Post-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":87,"url":"https:\/\/clarindawrites.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/01\/weekend-rx-short-films\/","url_meta":{"origin":1022,"position":4},"title":"Weekend Rx: short films","date":"April 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Short films fascinate me. I love making shorts. I love watching shorts. And I especially love making and watching them when I take breaks from writing. So long as I avoid the Youtube rabbit hole, these films direct my attention elsewhere for long enough to help me look with fresh\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "On Productivity"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clarindawrites.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/IMG_6498.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":700,"url":"https:\/\/clarindawrites.com\/index.php\/2016\/05\/10\/tuesday-art-post-danny-annie\/","url_meta":{"origin":1022,"position":5},"title":"Tuesday art post: Danny & Annie","date":"May 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here\u2019s your Tuesday art post: watch uninterrupted. 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