Perfection

I knitted scarves for Christmas presents this year. Two of my daughters watched my fingers flying and asked me to teach them how to knit. I was reluctant due to the fact that I only had the one set of needles and I was halfway through a scarf. As they persisted and declared that they had been watching me so they knew that they could do it, I recognized a good teaching opportunity.
The older daughter watched me carefully as I showed her step by step. She then took the needles and began, she had understood the process and did well but she was frustrated that it felt so awkward and she had to do each stitch slowly. She wondered why she could not hold the needles the way I did. Each stitch was painfully made but I encouraged her telling her she had the concept but only practice would bring the grace and speed she desired. She continued for about 6 rows.
The younger daughter didn’t even want instruction. She insisted that watching me was good enough! I cautioned her that anytime we watched experts do their “thing” effortlessly it meant that they had worked really hard at it. It didn’t change her mind so I handed her the scarf and needles. She took them with an air of confidence that quickly dwindled as she realized she didn’t know what to do. I asked if she wanted me to show her. No. She became frustrated. I offered help again. Reluctantly she agreed.
I showed her step by step several times then handed her the needles again. She became increasingly frustrated with her inability to “do it like Mom”. My encouragement and advice to be patient increased her frustration so I left the room. She struggled along for 1 ½ rows. She dropped it all where she was sitting and stomped off in disgust.
Some time later, the older daughter picked it up. She held it up and exclaimed in horror, “Mom, look at what we’ve done to your scarf! We’ve ruined it! The part we did doesn’t look anything like the part you did!”
We then had a discussion about perfection and expertise. We talked about dancers, musicians, athletes and others who spent hours, days, years, and even decades working to achieve the level of perfection that made what they did look so simple to do.
In this day and age of “instant” everything with a general expectation of “faster” is always better, I’m afraid that we are forgetting that simple principle “Practice makes perfect”. Or maybe we’ve just decided that perfection isn’t desirable anymore. Are we all settling for “just good enough”?
I hope not! That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?