On reading more of How to write one song, this passage stayed with me: “I do think there’s a lot of soul-crushing work, and a lot of unfortunate circumstances where people are tied to something they can’t get out of because it’s the only way to sustain their family’s existence. But that’s all inspiration to work harder at what you do love doing. Because if you get to do something you love, you’re part of a small minority of the billions of humans who have ever walked the earth. That says to me that you should cherish it, and protect it, and do everything you can to ensure that it’s not corrupted, that it’s not taken from you and made into something less fulfilling. Protect your inspiration, protect your ability to be inspired.” (40).
Which propelled something I had been putting off: building my own reel as a director, cinematographer, and editor, a trace of the recent projects I’ve been part of.
So put hands on work and here it is:
In a way, it brought old fears back to the surface: the feeling that my work isn’t “good enough,” the urge to list everything I could have done differently. But this time, when I heard that voice, I stopped. I breathed in, and instead of following it, I just sat with savoring the moment: I have a reel, a record of where I am in this process as an artist.
The potential to improve, to get better, opens up more honestly when I start from radical acceptance (of where I am, of what I’ve made) rather than jumping straight into “you should do better,” which only pulls me into perfectionism’s traps. Standing from that place, new doors open. This week I received some unexpected work opportunities, as if something quietly aligned.
So a message to myself: enjoy the process, not the results. Once again, and again.
Be here.