#35 The Work Unseen

You kinda have to be an artist to understand.

That behind each masterpiece of art lies work unseen.



That thousands of brushstrokes went into building the technique

That many paintings were discarded in the pursuit of perfection

Into the muscles mastering the precise control and co-ordination

Into having the patience to repeat, over and over, for every flaw

That which is before you is the sum of far more than just the time to create that one piece of work.

But only an artist would understand





You kinda have to be a musician to understand.

That behind each masterpiece of music lies work unseen.



That thousands of hours went into building the technique

That many melodies were discarded in the pursuit of perfection

Into developing the rhythm which will guide every beat

Into having the patience to repeat, over and over, for every flaw

That the work before you is the sum of far more than just the time to create that one piece of work.

But only a musician would understand.





You kinda have to be an athlete to understand.

That behind each masterpiece of athleticism lies work unseen.



That thousands of hours went into building the technique

That many techniques were discarded in the pursuit of perfection

Into the muscles mastering the precise control and co-ordination

Into having the patience to repeat, over and over, for every flaw

That the work before you is the sum of far more than just the time to create that one piece of work.

But only an athlete would understand.





You kinda have to be a scientist to understand.

That behind each masterpiece of knowledge lies work unseen.



That thousands of hours went into building the thesis

That many ideas were discarded in the pursuit of perfection

Into understanding exactly every assumption and justification required

Into having the patience to rethink, over and over, for every flaw

That the work before you is the sum of far more than just the time to create that one piece of work.

But only a scientist would understand.







Yet it took me a long time indeed to understand

That behind each masterpiece of any field lies work unseen.



That thousands of hours went into building the technique

That many techniques were discarded in the pursuit of perfection

Into developing any skill to the point that no one else could imitate it

Into having the patience to repeat, over and over, for every flaw

That the work before you is the sum of far more than just the time to create that one piece of work.



That every thing masterpiece you witness

Is the sum of a lifetime so far

That no truly great work is achieved without great effort behind the scenes

Without all the sacrifice, all the pain,

                                                     and all the work unseen



And I think that, just possibly, I'm beginning to understand.

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http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2013/08/35-work-unseen.html