“It can be strangely tricky for us to identify what kinds of tasks actually are hard — and therefore need to be approached with a lot of respect. A child learning to play the violin might get very worked up because they felt they were not making any progress — after twenty minutes. Failing to internalize that a challenge is going to be arduous is at the root of so many of our troubles.”
— Calm, page 26, by The School of Life, Alain de Botton
I have a strong hunch that the more serious we become about something, the less creative we also become. ‘Serious’ might not be the exact word I’m looking for. Forceful, perhaps. Dependent. The desire of wanting something to happen so badly we unintentionally create the opposite outcome.
‘My blog posts have sucked the last couple weeks.’
That was the first line of yesterday’s blog. On the surface, it’s true. My recent posts have been mediocre. Solid ideas; Poor Execution. But underneath the surface, my post reeks of desperation. The desperation to be a great writer. The desperation to do something for myself, something I enjoy for a chance, instead of just work-work-working to make ends meet. (meet or meat? 🙂
What an idiot. (Yes I just called myself an idiot.)
How many people are reading this? A dozen? Hundreds? A thousand? It doesn’t matter if you are not writing for yourself. When has pumping out content for the sake of it ever worked? When has forcing something ever worked out in the long run? My daily writing challenge is about increasing creativity, not squeezing it out my like a lemon.
I’ve been putting the wrong kind of pressure on myself, unnecessary pressure. Just because I want to be a great writer, a great multi-disciplinary, doesn’t mean I am one now. This undue pressure is also disrespecting the craft. Writing is hard. Crafting compelling stories is hard.
Anything worth mastering is hard. That’s why it’s worth mastering.
80% of people have already given up. All we have to do is keep going, keep learning, keep getting better and keep stumbling forward to make what we do worth it.
“Everybody gonna die, gonna go one day, maybe it’ll happen on a Monday
Drop into work and get hit by a Hyundai, f* it, let it all go one day...”
— Logic, Fade Away
I want to write a nonfiction book that means something.
I want to write a fiction book is a masterpiece of storytelling.
I want to write songs that resonate with individuals everywhere.
I want to create art and ideas worth creating.
But what if I die before I make it? I can’t control that.
All I can control is what I do today. Today leads to those hard goals above.
That’s starts with doing the best I can today, but that doesn’t mean I should expect my work to be immediately fantastic the moment I start.
STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner
Daily Blog #482
