The Art of Editing

It seems I do a lot of editing these days. Editing my book. Editing my time. Editing my thoughts. Having a desire to edit my wardrobe and stuff. So much to remove to get to the essence that I would like to see expressed.

I have always been touched deeply by sculpture. I used to have an art gallery and had a few artists that sculpted that amazed me. Touring museums with sculptures from the masters has touched me to tears. The act of removing what needs to be taken away to express the mind’s vision. And once the piece is removed, especially when sculpting, it is gone. I read a quote by Michelangelo, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free”. It sounds as if it is a matter of attuning, removing and seeing your vision set free in front of you. The Pieta is one of his most famous works and he completed in a little over a year. While that may sound like a long time, it seems a marvel of time to release such depth and emotion from a slab of marble in such a short amount of time. I also have seen another of Michelangelo’s sculptures, David, that took approximately three years to complete.

The Latin root of the word decision is cis, which means “to cut” or “to kill”. As I edit my book, I thought it would be more about adding and moving text around, and I am finding that it is a grand act of less. A process of discernment to communicate clearly with the least amount of words to convey my thoughts. It is about cutting. Making decisions of what serves the overall purpose of the book and the intended audience in the clearest way possible.

I have edited video, which I found to be a painstaking process of noting the fractions of a second to indicate what is to keep and cut, and then repeating the process many times to end up with a succinct product that achieved the desired outcome.

Somehow, less is harder. It requires more time to have an edited text, email, paper or book. This sheds new light on the “less is more” concept for me. I watch cooking shows where the time it takes to create a right-sized, delicious, and stunning offering that tantalizes the taste buds and eyes is a time-consuming process. Typically, I notice that individuals edit when it becomes too much or the seasonality of Spring calls for that cleaning action. Marie Kondo has encouraged a world of decluttering only to retain what “sparks joy”. The idea is that less alone can spark joy.

Editing my time is fundamental. I ask myself, “To what end?” when it comes to meeting with others and engaging. And the timing is just as critical as the time. Is my attention needed now? Holding my time, energy and focus as commodities that are dear and in often cases not as renewable as I would like to think.

I see the need to edit speech these days. So many take things so personally. Though my work is based on finding and honoring “common ground”, it seems that “neutral ground” may need to be a first step as holding tightly to beliefs is limiting individual’s capacity to come together in any way and common ground feels as if it is a stretch for some. The act of listening is perceived to mean that we are giving up something, which is not the case as I see it.

The world as I know it is being edited in ways that I have not seen, as the rights of individuals and systems are nearing collapse, and it troubles me. What I witness is not editing like the sculptor’s. When Michelangelo approached his marble, he saw the angel already within - his vision aligned with what was meant to be revealed. The Constitution and our founding documents were carved with a similar vision: that certain truths were self-evident, that rights were inherent, not granted by government whim. True governance editing should reveal and clarify these established principles, removing obstacles to their effective expression.

What we witness instead is a different kind of cutting entirely. This is not the careful removal of excess to free a form that already exists - it is the crude chipping away at the foundation itself. Rights that were carved into our national consciousness are being edited not to reveal their essence, but to restrict their reach. The sculptor asks, "What needs to be removed to set the vision free?" while the authoritarian asks, "What can be cut away to serve my purpose?"

There is editing that clarifies, and editing that confuses. Some cutting reveals truth; other cutting obscures it. When access to voting, healthcare, or basic dignity becomes contingent on who you are rather than simply being human, we have moved from sculpture to demolition.

I work to reconcile editing, cutting and the release of what is meant to be in a more reflective way. I find myself returning to the discipline of purposeful editing in my own sphere. If joy feels elusive, then what simple act can I do that feels rewarding? Gardening, baking, sending a handwritten letter to someone I care about? I can maintain the practice of thoughtful refinement in my daily choices. I can edit my responses to react less and listen more. I can cut away cynicism to preserve possibility. I can carve out spaces for dialogue where others are building walls.

Perhaps this is how we resist - not through anger, but through the quiet persistence of revealing rather than concealing, of including rather than excluding, of sculpting toward our highest vision rather than chipping away at our shared foundation.