Captured Thought: Starting

         Throughout senior year and what we've discussed, one main idea that stuck to me was "starting is the hardest part." When we first talked about that concept, for some reason I was so caught up with how true it was. Upon reflection of my past experiences, especially dealing with academics, the greatest struggles I've had with big projects or assignments was starting! Even starting this blog took a lot of initiative. This got me thinking.

         When we began to watch the video about Frank Gehry, he too, talked about how starting was very difficult to him. However, once he gets started on a big project he asks himself, "what's the big deal?" Too be honest that's when I stopped concentrating on the movie because I began to brainstorm - what is the big deal? Why is starting so hard for everyone? Why does it take so much will power and effort to start?

         Eventually, I realized why it's so hard to start, for me at least. Whenever I have an essay or project coming up, I expect everything I do to be top notch quality. Regardless if it's the first draft, I expect too much out of my works, especially from my brainstorm sketches, which is contradictory. However, I remembered something. When we discussed Ernest Hemingway in class, too be honest, I remember one thing about him. And that thing is when he said that "the first draft of anything is shit."

         At first, my reaction was that his remark is too blunt; but it's true! First drafts of all my works are terrible, but the key to starting is realizing it's terrible. After you understand it's awful, and it's meant to be awful, it's easy to start. Having the mindset that it doesn't have to be perfect and it's okay for it to be bad helps. That's when I understood why Frank Gehry is so amazing at what he does.

         Frank Gehry's works are admired by our country because they're so unique and modern. The reason he is able to do that is with his sketches. I don't know if you have ever seen his sketches, but they are mere scribbles. When I saw them I had no clue what they were, but somehow the final draft always ends up taking my breathe away. If one of the world's greatest architect's rough drafts look like that, than I have no need to worry. Rough drafts are supposed to look like that so you can only make progress, rather than digress. That's my opinion at least.