Excellence and the creative journey... by Donna Carrick

A great deal has been said on the topic of "excellence", much of it by deeper thinkers than I aspire to be. I recall the green days of my youth, striking out in a career at Bell Canada. Back then it was all the rage to sit through day-long motivational sessions, designed to drive each of us to greater heights of excellence. Hapless employees were whipped into a frenzy of enthusiasm on a regular basis, and "Rah-rah-rah" was the order of the day.

But what did it really mean? When all was said and done, we working people reached with all our combined might for that brass ring, sometimes grabbing hold, more often than not falling short. Companies closed out from under us, stocks fell, co-workers were let go and those of us lucky enough to hang on by a thread were buried under mountains of work, scarcely able to breathe, let alone remember what it was we had been cheering about.

Perhaps that sounds negative, or sardonic. Does it mean we should give up on the ideal of "excellence"? Or was our passion merely mis-placed?

When I wrote The First Excellence ~ Fa-ling's Map, it was supposed to be about a young woman's search for her lost culture. That, in itself, seemed like a weighty enough topic to carry a novel.

The past, though, has little relevence on its own. It comes to life when set against the context of the present and future. Fa-ling's true challenge was not to understand her past at all; rather, it was to embrace her moment and to fling herself willingly into the unknown.

Of the five excellences that make up a life, she reasons, surely the greatest of these is this: to love and to be loved with an open heart.

These days I sometimes find it challenging to work my way through another busy day. There are phones to be answered, emails to reply to, queries and concerns flying through the air like so many "snitches" -- thank you for that image, J.K.Rowlings!

And yet, somewhere in the midst of all that business and commotion, there still exists a spark -- a glimmer of desire for excellence in all we do. We try to go the extra mile for that client. We smile at the boss when we may well feel like...er...not smiling. We pick up that phone and answer one more email.

For those of us lucky enough to enjoy a creative outlet, the end of the working day is really just the beginning. There are stories to write, characters to develop, scenes to sculpt...where do we find the energy?

Then, for just one moment, we step back to look at what we've done.
And it IS excellent!
Posted by Donna Carrick, July 26, 2011