Learn to be Mediocre

A lot of people, perhaps especially people who spend their lives in small towns, have a somewhat distorted view of the world. This is probably true in a lot of ways, but the sense in which I mean it is that people believe that the best they’ve seen of something is among the best there is. Everyone thinks the best cook they know could be a world class chef, or the best player on their church softball team could have made the majors with a couple of breaks. There’s somebody singing in your church choir or neighborhood karaoke bar just waiting to be discovered and record number one hits. Your girlfriend’s poetry should be anthologized with Tennyson or Plath.

For the most part, everyone is wrong. The range of expertise or skill within your own personal experience almost never reflects the entire range of humanity. Most people never meet someone that is really world-class at anything, and that’s fine. There are lots of levels of “really good” that enrich people’s lives. The lady that runs the Panther Drive-In, Angie Campbell, almost certainly couldn’t be Julia Child even if given the opportunity, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t make the best Denver omelet I’ve ever tasted. I’m content with it being the best one I ever will taste. The fact that there’s someone out there who could make a better one, or make something that made me forget Denver omelets ever existed, simply isn’t relevant to my life.