A Perfect Beginning Is Imperfect

I’m delighted to share my new YouTube Shorts format for our sake cups and sippers. It highlights the full process—throwing, trimming, firing—in a way that’s unique for social media. Pottery takes time, and tracking footage for each piece is a chore, but the results are worth it.

My old videos were linear: throwing, then trimming, then the final reveal. The thumbnail might show the finished piece or clay in progress, but it was hit or miss. People didn’t always see the reveal, and the results were mixed. A few days ago, I added a thumbnail of the finished piece to the title screen. It looked good—you’d see the piece, then watch it being made. Then I had an idea: play that thumbnail through the whole video. Better yet, put the finished piece on half the screen, spinning, while the other half shows throwing and trimming.

That was the light bulb. I reformatted, shared a few, and got good results. After finalizing it, I had an epiphany about my perfectionism. I wouldn’t have this format I like today if I hadn’t started with those older videos. I liked them then, but I didn’t know I’d like this more. If you keep refining, what you do now will always get better. The lesson? A perfect beginning is imperfect. You just have to start.