Arts and sciences are not cast in a mould, but are formed and perfected by degrees, by often handling and polishing, as bears leisurely lick their cubs into form.

Nothing worth knowing arrives finished. Skill takes its shape from being handled over and over, a little at a time, with long stretches where the improvement is too small to see. Expecting a thing to come out whole on the first attempt is the quickest way to abandon it.

Choose the piece of work you keep waiting to feel ready for. Give it a short, unglamorous session this week with no aim beyond handling it again. Repeat that a few times and judge the result at the end of the month rather than the end of the hour.