Good enough is a decision, not a compromise

Dear Reader,

One thing I’m thinking about

This week I've been thinking about how often "good enough" is actually the perfect place to stop, even when I know exactly how to make that thing better. It's not a resignation to "sub-par" work; it's an actual decision I've made. There is a version of me that would keep fiddling, jeujing if you will. But this week I didn't let her.

The main thing

A while back I carved a moth-and-moon design with a puzzle block – two colors that interlock like pieces, topped with a black detail layer. When I first printed it, I eyeballed the registration. It worked, technically, but up close, things weren't quite lined up the way I wanted.

So I decided to reprint the design, using a never-tested (by me) registration method: the cardboard jig. Of course I made a video about the whole project. My first print of the first layer was on scuffed paper; it was under-inked, and I didn't apply enough pressure. Luckily in printmaking you get to do the same thing over and over again and can get better each time. When I printed the second layer on top, the registration was still off. So I adjusted the jig a little bit with each pull, and print after print I kept chasing the "perfect alignment".

Here’s the part I didn’t fully say in the video: the real lesson wasn’t the jig itself; it was what I’d change about the blocks. Mine have soft, organic edges – little curves and twists that made the jig fight me the whole way. If I build another jig-based project, every block is getting a clean, square edge first. Straightforward geometry, dropped into a straightforward cut. The organic shapes are lovely to carve but WAY too tricky to register.

In the end, I called it close enough. Not because I gave up, but because the print in front of me was genuinely good, and I know exactly what those moths cost me to make. That knowing is worth more to me than perfect alignment.

If you’ve been putting off trying something because you’re worried it won’t come out right the first time – I hope this is a little bit of permission. It usually doesn’t. That’s not the failure. That’s just round one.

Also lately

New video’s up this week walking through the whole jig experiment, mess-ups included, if you want to watch me fumble through it in real time.

If you’ve got a registration horror story of your own, hit reply – I read every one, and misery loves good company.

Warmly,

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