Importance...

[fajrdrako]

"My importance to the world is relatively small. On the other hand, my importance to myself is tremendous. I am all I have to work with, to play with, to suffer and to enjoy. It is not the eyes of others that I am wary of, but of my own. I do not intend to let myself down more than I can possibly help, and I find that the fewer illusions I have about myself or the world around me, the better company I am for myself." - Noel Coward

Comments

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

Interesting note in the aphorism department.

I'd say that I am far more likely to rely on others' standards, as mine are not up to where I'd like them to be. However, sometimes they are too high ... one of the main reasons I have for not yet writing any fiction. [I have a bad habit of tearing up what I had written and "starting over."]

Would you agree this is true for *yourself*?

[dewline.livejournal.com]

I can't speak for our host here, but for myself: I thankfully haven't torn up anything I've written yet. Left it abandoned on the virtual roadside on occasion, yes. Copied chunks of earlier drafts into newer versions which I hope will lead to an improved finished work, yes.

Intense self-criticism, though, is an ongoing thing.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't trust anyone's standards but my own. A matter of values, I guess. Not so much a matter of accomplishment as personality. Some choices - judgements - no one else can make. Now, I have of course torn up things I wrote that weren't good enough - I have tossed complete novels into the trash - but normally, if I am not happy with something I've written, I rewrite until I am happy with it. Because if it was good enough to start, it's good enough to finish.

At least... I hope I believe that.

And a lot depends on the measurement. I'd like to be a pristine housekeeper and someone who's never in debt. It isn't possible to keep my place as clean as I'd like to - and I can't afford a maid - so every day I do something to keep my place neat and clean, just as every week I pay something towards getting out of debt.

I guess included in my standards for myself are not giving up, and not being too hard on myself.

Nobody's perfect, but nobody has the same standards of perfection either, and it's important to me to choose my own standards.

As for the line about illusions.... I liked that part best. See the truth, and knowing the truth as best we can, is the really important part.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I have scrapped some first drafts and started again. I trashed four novels a year or so ago. (Kept the first one I ever wrote, though. I've no idea if I'll ever have the courage to actually read it again.)

But I do have early drafts of unfinished things on my hard drive that I may never return to. Par for the course. Not everything needs to see the light of day.

I don't think 'intense self-criticism' is as much of a good idea as 'instense self-examination.' The important thing is to know yourself, but not to judge yourself. Certainly not to judge yourself harshly. The world is harsh enough.

OOC

[prometheusrise.livejournal.com]

That's quite a brilliant quote, and rather apropos for the state of my life these days. Thanks very much for sharing--I'll be copying that down for my own reference. :)

Re: OOC

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes. And remember: it isn't how much time you have, but how you use it, that counts.