The third idea

My husband John is a forestry professor, and also a musician. John mentioned getting a message from DL, one of his fellow band members, who was musing over a process he had noticed while playing improvisational jazz.

He remarked that in an improvisational tune, somebody usually begins with the initial idea, a structure on which to build.

The initial idea is tinkered with, and changed. Musicians think on their feet, and unlike most visual art or writing, there is no chance to take back and edit what you put out there in a live performance. So from somewhere, out tumbles a second idea.

Composition Number VI, Wassily Kandinsky, 1913

According to DL's observations, the most original and exciting outcome is produced when a third idea emerges.

I suppose it makes sense that the third idea would be more complex and layered. I wonder if this sequence plays out in other realms? When I make 3 meals in a day, is it the third one that will be the best? Did I do a better job raising my third child than I did with the first two? OK, obviously there is something amiss with my analogies here; I had better stick to the arts: writing, performing, creating.

Maybe it works like this:
1. It's really hard to get things right the first time.
2. You have to struggle a little. Change things.
3. After you have tangled with the elements, out comes the vision.

People think it comes easy to artists, that if a person is gifted, why it just pours out. But the creative process isn't a snap. It's as hard as one...two...three...