anyone off the street

my management team likes to say that. a lot.

“we need to make this so that anyone off the street can jump in and use it.”

the problem, however, is that i’m not designing a remote control for a television. i’m not building the newest innovation in coffee making. i create decision support tools; the key word there being support. in my line of work, the best i can do is point someone in the right direction and give them the data and information to make a better choice—but i can’t actually make the choice for them. i write the poetry, but it is my clients who give the words their meaning.

you see, fine art is fine art because it’s not popular art. certainly there are some pieces of fine art which do have mass appeal, this is true, but the value is in the details. it’s in the appreciation of how delicate the strokes from a painter’s brush bring life and energy to the lips of the woman in their paining. it’s immersing yourself in the tempo of a symphony, experiencing the ups and downs, and feeling the strength and sorrow in the bass drums and violins.

you need those details to really understand what you’re looking at or the music you’re listening to. it’s seeing the whole, but having an appreciation for the individual pieces. that’s what separates a connoisseur from just anyone off the street.

anyone off the street can listen to a symphony or walk around a museum and never experience the art surrounding them. stop walking through your world and start experiencing it. get into the details. become a connoisseur instead.

when you start to do that you’re going to begin appreciating life more. i promise you.