We’re exposed to more art, writing, music, and aesthetics in a single week than people used to see in a lifetime. And this exposure only breeds discernment. The more you see, the more you know what “good” looks like long before you could ever emulate it.

It’s why most people quit before they ever get good. Not because they’re lazy or lack discipline, but because they develop taste before they develop skill. They already know what “good” looks like, and it makes the process of getting there unbearable. You can recognize rhythm, tone, precision, but can’t reproduce it yet. You can tell when your work... See more

If your taste never outgrew your skill, you would stop improving.

If you can’t finish a bad piece, you’ll never be able to make a good one. Completion builds pattern recognition, it teaches you what went wrong and what you should do differently next time.

You’ve already imagined this version of yourself who can do something well, but you just can’t seem to actually become that person. But this is simply the natural tension of becoming. To try to skip it is to avoid the work of existing consciously.

Maybe our taste develops first so that we don’t settle too soon. Maybe the gap between who you are and who you want to be is supposed to be frustrating. You can’t imitate your way out of it, and there’s no way to rush through it. You just have to stay there for a while, stuck between admiration and ability.

Now, every unfinished attempt exists next to someone else’s polished portfolio. We scroll through a feed of fully formed work and mistake it for the natural state of creation. Everyone else seems complete, while you’re the only one still becoming .

We’ve become fluent in the language of aesthetics without ever learning the patience that mastery demands from us. Pinterest boards, Substack articles, Youtube video essays—all work to refine our tastes, but they don’t train the patience or tolerance for failure that we need.

And it’s not simply comparison that’s the problem, it’s compression.... See more

Don’t confuse consumption with creation. Scrolling through people’s “perfect”, finished work might feel productive, but it only feeds your self-comparison. Inspiration has a half-life that decays the longer you just sit on it. Use it fast or it turns into envy.