nothing lasts. nothing is finished. nothing is perfect.

It's 7:04AM, and I'm standing outside watching my dog, Wallace, amble around in the grass.

He cautiously steps forward, dropping sandpaper paws onto morning dew. He lowers his nose to the grass and sniffs, steps forward again, sniffs.

Steps to the side, sniffs.

Steps to the other side, sniffs.

Walks backwards, sniffs.

He retraces his steps and repeats the whole process over again.

"Wallace, go potty," I repeat, like it's my own personal transcendental meditation chant.

In his defense, we're not exactly in prime pissing real estate. We're standing in a miniature minefield of disintegrated dog poops.

I've heard that dogs and their owners become more similar over time.

Nowhere is that more true than in this moment, as Wallace weighs his seemingly countless options for spaces to pee -- agonizing over how to pick the perfect one.

His talent for rumination and his ability to make something take 3x as long as it needs to might be traits inherited from his human father.

But with enough encouragement and patience, Wallace pees.

"Good potty, buddy!" I tell him, and we go inside.

I grab my things and head to the coffee shop, where I'm now writing this email.

As I was watching Wallace this morning, I thought about how the creative process is a lot like Wallace taking a piss.

The reason it can sometimes feel so difficult is that we try to get it perfect.

But when it comes to taking a piss -- and creating art -- sometimes you just gotta do the thing, even if it's not "perfect."

So if you're feeling intimidated by the tasks on your to-do list or the creative endeavor you're pursuing -- you might be putting too much pressure on yourself to do it perfectly.

A large part of the creative battle is doing something -- even if it ends up looking more like a puddle of piss than a masterpiece.

Do the thing.

Robert

P.S. Coincidentally, there's a print on the wall in the coffee shop right now that reads (punctuation added):

"NOTHING LASTS. NOTHING IS FINISHED. NOTHING IS PERFECT."

It's worth remembering.