Perfect is the Enemy of Wonderful

[image error]I use the phrase “Perfect is the Enemy of Good” a lot, reminding myself that retooling a sentence or a paragraph can mash all the spontaneity and beauty right out of it. But it’s not just applicable to writing.

My daughter got married on New Year’s Eve. It was–to my “make-a-list-and-check-it-twice-delegate-but-confirm” mind–a rather oddly organized event: outside on December 31 in Northern California. Setup on the driveway of the house of some of their friends, and organized as a potluck. And...