#35 The Work Unseen

You kinda have to be an artist to understand.
That behind each masterpiece of art lies work unseen.

That thousands of brushstrokes went into building the technique
That many paintings were discarded in the pursuit of perfection
Into the muscles mastering the precise control and co-ordination
Into having the patience to repeat, over and over, for every flaw
That which is before you is the sum of far more than just the time to create that one piece of work.
But only an artist would understand


You kinda have to be a musician to understand.
That behind each masterpiece of music lies work unseen.

That thousands of hours went into building the technique
That many melodies were discarded in the pursuit of perfection
Into developing the rhythm which will guide every beat
Into having the patience to repeat, over and over, for every flaw
That the work before you is the sum of far more than just the time to create that one piece of work.
But only a musician would understand.


You kinda have to be an athlete to understand.
That behind each masterpiece of athleticism lies work unseen.

That thousands of hours went into building the technique
That many techniques were discarded in the pursuit of perfection
Into the muscles mastering the precise control and co-ordination
Into having the patience to repeat, over and over, for every flaw
That the work before you is the sum of far more than just the time to create that one piece of work.
But only an athlete would understand.


You kinda have to be a scientist to understand.
That behind each masterpiece of knowledge lies work unseen.

That thousands of hours went into building the thesis
That many ideas were discarded in the pursuit of perfection
Into understanding exactly every assumption and justification required
Into having the patience to rethink, over and over, for every flaw
That the work before you is the sum of far more than just the time to create that one piece of work.
But only a scientist would understand.



Yet it took me a long time indeed to understand
That behind each masterpiece of any field lies work unseen.

That thousands of hours went into building the technique
That many techniques were discarded in the pursuit of perfection
Into developing any skill to the point that no one else could imitate it
Into having the patience to repeat, over and over, for every flaw
That the work before you is the sum of far more than just the time to create that one piece of work.

That every thing masterpiece you witness
Is the sum of a lifetime so far
That no truly great work is achieved without great effort behind the scenes
Without all the sacrifice, all the pain,
                                                     and all the work unseen

And I think that, just possibly, I'm beginning to understand.