Are you Cézanne or Picasso?

Today's post is about perfection. How do you follow that? Just uttering it's name brings a halt to my fingers. A reminder of the thing we all ascribe to be. What a daunting task. I'm up for the challenge.

I've been a fan of Malcolm Gladwell since the first time I picked up The Tipping Point many many years ago. Malcolm's ability to look at the world from another perspective is a unique and powerful talent that I admire. As a fellow Canadian I am inspired by his skill to form his own narrative, something I will continue to aspire to.

Of course I went on to finish all of his books which provided me with many sound bites I could use at dinner parties. Who hasn't talked about "ten thousand hours" when referencing someone with great achievements. If you haven't read his books or don't know about "ten thousand hours" I implore you to read Outliers and his other works.

As a fan, you can imagine my great joy when I discovered he would be doing his own 10-episode podcast a few months ago. At first the description left me much to desire. Revisionist History it is titled, and from the official description it says, "Each week, over the course of 10 weeks, Revisionist History will go back and reinterpret something from the past. An event. A person. An idea. Something overlooked. Something misunderstood. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance."

For some reason my first impression was that this would be just another run of the mill history podcast with boring details about things that I didn't care about. Boy was I wrong.

Luckily for me my wife's boss knew I was a podcast and book lover. We got to talking and she recommended that I check it out, referencing one episode about the free throw and the granny shot. Did you know that if everyone in the NBA shot free throws with the granny shot method they would all dramatically improve their percentages? But they never will.

I was intrigued and immediately knew that I had underestimated this material. And so I plunged forward. Every episode is insightful and unique in a typical Gladwellian way (yea I just made that word up). I have thoroughly enjoyed them all and each has granted me a new perspective on a broad range of topics, but there's one in particular that really stuck out to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4

Hallelujah is a very famous song originally by Canadian Leonard Cohen but made wide-spread by Jeff Buckley as most people have heard it. And not even till after his death in 1997.

The story of Hallelujah is unique. I won't give it all away, I recommend you listen to the podcast episode, but it's an extraordinary example of one type of perfection.

There are two types of artists. Those who blaze onto the scene with conviction, confidence, and contention. They create their art, put their stamp on it and move on. Satisfied with the quality of their craft, no longer needing edit or reform. This is Pablo Picasso.

Then there is the artist who is never satisfied with their work. Doomed to forever come back to their works and reiterate until they have achieved some envisioned but unattainable outcome in the future. This is Paul Cézanne.

Both artists lived in the late 19th century and each have their own accolades. Neither artist type can be said to be better than the other, but the latter is something that I find myself resonating with.

Which one are you? I highly recommend you check the episode out as there is much more to the story that I can't do justice. After all, I don't have my ten thousand hours writing yet.

Aaron