Life is a Process, Not a Product.

I wrote an essay I planned to edit and post on my blog a while ago. But life got busy, and the article sat in my save folders unedited until recently. Realizing it had been a while since I published anything new on my website, I thought perhaps I would finish editing and share. After all, it was mostly written.

Then I reread it, and the topic and words did not flow for some reason. They did not feel right. At least now did not feel the time for those words.

As someone who has been guilty of seeing an incomplete task or unfinished project as equivalent to a failure, I tend to push tasks, projects, or words to their completion. Perhaps on occasion before their time. I have been guilty of attempting to force the words into a box I have made rather than simply allowing them to be shared at a time that might be better suited. I have been guilty of allowing the pressure to produce to weigh too heavily on my decisions.

Our modern culture celebrates the completion of tasks and recognizes success by the end result. Rarely is much value or recognition given to the actual process, the learning, or the slow steps forward.

Ironically, as a preschool teacher, I often talk about the importance of the process. Research shows how much learning happens in the process, and I constantly remind myself that I need not be so focused on the end product but on helping my students grow in the process.

Yet, regarding my work, task list, or projects, I still find myself judging success by the end result, feeling the need to push to completion before celebrating the process.

My first reaction when I read the words I had previously written was to begin a re-write, attempting to make the words flow better. But then I remembered that I did not need to force something that was not working. There was no requirement or deadline for this project. These words were simply mine to share or not to share. And while I believe shared words are important, not all important words need to be shared.

Shared words are important, BUT
not all important words need to be shared.
Joy Marker

I constantly have to remind myself that it is ok to allow some things to remain unfinished, perhaps wait until the time is right, or even let them be for the sake of the process and nothing more. Maybe I just needed to write those words and not share them out loud. Or perhaps they will sit, and the time to share will arrive later.

Yes, there are times when deadlines and due dates require that we push a process to completion, even if we feel rushed in doing so. Yet, I wonder if we might begin to consider the process as holding value just as we do the end result.

“Art is a process, not a product. Enjoy the process.” These words hang framed in my preschool classroom. And I can’t help but wonder what would happen if we replaced art with life.

If we replaced ART with LIFE, saying “life is a process, not a product.” Could we then give ourselves permission to enjoy this perfectly imperfect and heartbreakingly beautiful life we have? And maybe, on occasion, we would find ourselves content to sit in the process, holding the reality of what is instead of attempting to force it into what we believe it should be. Allowing ourselves to take slow steps forward and enjoy the actual process of each step instead of rushing toward the outcome.