You’ll never be done.

All the ladies want to know why I haven’t finished writing my new book yet.

They stare at me, patiently, expectantly, sipping wine, unwrapping chocolates, waiting for my explanation.

“Sooo…?”

“Well, you know, I’ve had so many writing deadlines for my clients lately, and I’ve been helping Brandon run his new restaurant, and I really don’t have a ‘weekend’ any more, and it’s been really tough to find the time. But once I am done with this latest bunch of projects for my clients, then, for sure, I will finish the book.”

They nod understandingly.

Phew. I’m off the hook.

But one woman is not having it.

She chimes in, insistently:

“But Alex… you’ll never be done.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

She continues:

“You said once you are ‘done’ with your client projects, then you will work on your book. But it’s never over. It will never be over. You’ll never be completely ‘done.’ There will always be something else, some new project or loose end or distraction or whatever. ‘Done’ will never arrive. If you are waiting to feel completely ‘done’, you will be waiting forever.”

She’s totally right — which is so annoying, of course.

I’ll never be done. You’ll never be done.

If it’s not a job or an income-generating client project, it’s laundry or dishes or tax paperwork or a weekend or lack of a weekend or a fridge that needs to be cleaned or a friend that needs a favor or drawers that need to be organized or an email that needs to be re-written with a bit more precision.

Done is an illusion.

So why do we “postpone” the projects and experiences that matter most vitally to our hearts?

“Done” is never coming.

We have to make art anyway.