Pushing Limits
I forgot who said it, but it was this wonderful thing about being an unknown, beginning artist. It was about the infinite freedom that one has when they are working for themselves. You don’t work to sell, because nobody is going to buy. You don’t work to stay consistent because there is nothing to be consistent with. You just work. Maybe even more important, there is also no time constraint. Rick Rubin, brilliant creative, mentioned the latter in a gorgeous interview with Daily Stoic (link below). You have your entire life to create your first album, and only one or two years to create a follow-up. So, basically, take your time.
I would call myself opportunistic, I try to seize all that is given. So, naturally, I take my hidden status as the opportunity it is: I experiment. Usually, the results are pretty mediocre. But this is good. In the book “the artist’s way”, Julia Cameron explains claims that we should pick our battles carefully. Specifically, she mentions that we are not responsible for the quality of our work, but rather the quantity. I LOVE this philosophy. Good things do not tend to happen to those who wait. But, if you walk around the streets long enough, you’re bound to find some change. And let me tell you; change was found.
When making stuff, we make tons of decisions. In my case, I typically hate most. But once in a blue moon, we stumble upon something that scratches that one itch we most likely didn’t even know we had. It fits in the curves of our brain just right; it gets us excited. When something excites me, I follow it like a cocaine addict follows their friends into a bathroom.
I find that the things that excite me are usually the things I didn’t really get, or notice before. Sometimes, I even find myself falling in love with the very things I used to dislike. These are the things I love the strongest. Loving something beautiful is normal, loving something normal is beautiful. I am noticing I talk in quotes a lot, I do not apologize.
(Rick Rubin on The Creative Act, Overcoming Ego, and Enjoying the Process (youtube.com))
