Coincidence. I'm trying to decide whether the site I refer to in the post I made two minutes after yours is (a) total crap and (b) worth starting over...

Well, I like the one about how I make onions cry.

I accept mediocrity when something I don't care about is involved, so it's not as much of an issue.

But, if I'm writing, it's like I'm killing a whole rainforest with all the wadded up balls of paper I throw away.

I am doing that RIGHT NOW (except, uh, obviously RIGHT NOW I'm online chattering and avoiding facing the facts) with a chunk of writing.

Yesterday I figured out how to solve the problems I've been having with it. Unfortunately, solving the problems means throwing away everything I've written so far and starting over. Sigh.

And I agree with reenum: it was a big step for me to realize that, in some arenas, mediocrity is okay. I now reserve my greatest efforts for things that I (or someone else of consequence) really give a good goddamn about.

At some point I replaced the "AND YOU HAVE TO THROW EVERYTHING IN THE AIR AND START OVER" part with "AND YOU TURN IT INTO A BLOG" and I'm not sure if that's an improvement or not.

This comment is sort of like that...

The point of the journey is not to arrive. What did you learn along the way?

I learned never to ask for feedback on my writing?

No.

The key is that I never work hard on anything, (unless I'm being paid). There ya go.

I do this all the time with things I write. Usually by about the 3rd iteration, the results are actually good enough to keep.

I do this every time I draw something and then hold it up to a mirror.

Sounds like a normal day at work to me. You work hard on an idea. Then, some middle-middle-manager declares it "off base" and a day's work is trash.