This is just a quick post about The Story of B by Daniel Quinn. It was recommended to me by friend and musician Lucas Cates. The book is essentially an alternate look at human history. How did we get to be the society that we are today?
This book is thought provoking and refreshing, especially to someone (like me) who is often confused and unsettled by the culture we live in. Western culture is both rich and powerful, but it seems consistently to be headed down the wrong path. Were we destined to be this way? What is the role of humans on this planet?
The Story of B explores these questions and many others. It is an easy and engaging read. Well worth the time.
24 August 2011
12 August 2011
What Politicians Can Learn From Musicians
The recent political situation here in the United States involves heated debate over raising the debt ceiling. Both sides are treating compromise as a dirty word, which is just downright foolish. They could take some tips from us musicians (how often do we get to say that) who are used to working together to making a product that is better than the sum of its parts. I even saw a poll about whether politicians should stick to their ideology regardless of the consequences. An alarming number of participants, though thankfully not a majority, said that ideology should not be compromised. Let me introduce you to the real world.
Compromise is not something to fear nor something to shy away from. It is a way for more people to get a piece of what they want, so more people can benefit. Speaking from an artistic point of view, ideology is a wonderful place to start. A starting point - that’s all. Ideology exists in a vacuum. All bets are off once an idea enters reality. In the immortal words of Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan ’til they get punched in the mouth.”
Once an idea enters the real world, it undergoes a whirlwind process of adjusting, editing, refining and yes, compromising to turn the idea into reality. The stronger we believe in the idea, the more refinement is necessary. Compromise is a way to get things right.
It seems that American politicians have never learned what musicians have known for hundreds of years: if we refuse to work with others, we will be lonely and our work will suffer. When we refuse to move forward because the solutions don’t completely represent our original ideology, we find ourselves with nothing to show.
This is the brother of option paralysis (where we have too many options and can’t choose). Call it Ideological Paralysis. The neighborhood kids don’t want to play your game, so you sit on the front steps rather than play something else.
Compromise is not something to fear nor something to shy away from. It is a way for more people to get a piece of what they want, so more people can benefit. Speaking from an artistic point of view, ideology is a wonderful place to start. A starting point - that’s all. Ideology exists in a vacuum. All bets are off once an idea enters reality. In the immortal words of Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan ’til they get punched in the mouth.”
Once an idea enters the real world, it undergoes a whirlwind process of adjusting, editing, refining and yes, compromising to turn the idea into reality. The stronger we believe in the idea, the more refinement is necessary. Compromise is a way to get things right.
It seems that American politicians have never learned what musicians have known for hundreds of years: if we refuse to work with others, we will be lonely and our work will suffer. When we refuse to move forward because the solutions don’t completely represent our original ideology, we find ourselves with nothing to show.
This is the brother of option paralysis (where we have too many options and can’t choose). Call it Ideological Paralysis. The neighborhood kids don’t want to play your game, so you sit on the front steps rather than play something else.
05 August 2011
Creativity and Hard Work
Very few things in this life just happen to us, especially things like opportunities, talents or skills. Whenever you hear someone say “he is so naturally gifted,” chances are they are overlooking a tremendous amount of time, effort and hard work. We tend to over-simplify other people’s skills into “natural talent” to make ourselves feel better about not having the same skill or success. It is much easier to imagine that they were given to someone else and are out of our power.
But brilliance is not a gift, it is a skill. Success is not an event, it is a process. Have you ever heard the saying “he worked hard for 15 years to get famous overnight”? Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers begins with the rule of 10,000 hours: to be great at something, you need to do it for at least 10,000 hours. Simple enough.
Author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat Pray Love) gave a remarkable presentation at the TED conference about genius. Did you know that “genius” used to be considered an outside force? A person had genius. Now they are a genius. Big difference. It actually takes some of the pressure off to think of genius as something outside of the self. We need to show up for work and sometimes the genius will appear.
The one piece of advice I have heard from every single one of my heros is to work every day. Some days are magical, some days are abysmal. But, in the words of Philip Roth, “the ordeal is part of the commitment.” If we feel compelled to do what we do, any success is just a bonus. The real goal is to spend a life creating.
But brilliance is not a gift, it is a skill. Success is not an event, it is a process. Have you ever heard the saying “he worked hard for 15 years to get famous overnight”? Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers begins with the rule of 10,000 hours: to be great at something, you need to do it for at least 10,000 hours. Simple enough.
Author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat Pray Love) gave a remarkable presentation at the TED conference about genius. Did you know that “genius” used to be considered an outside force? A person had genius. Now they are a genius. Big difference. It actually takes some of the pressure off to think of genius as something outside of the self. We need to show up for work and sometimes the genius will appear.
The one piece of advice I have heard from every single one of my heros is to work every day. Some days are magical, some days are abysmal. But, in the words of Philip Roth, “the ordeal is part of the commitment.” If we feel compelled to do what we do, any success is just a bonus. The real goal is to spend a life creating.
03 August 2011
Planning vs. Spontaneity
I have long been an advocate of planning. Preparation. “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success” said Alexander Graham Bell. But the arts, perhaps more than most other fields, rely on inspiration, fluidity, improvisation and spontaneity. Without a certain amount of planning, a project of the slightest complexity will fall into chaos very quickly. But without enough spontaneity, art turns into process and pedantry. How do we balance the two?
Creative individuals often thrive on the disorganized and the slightly chaotic. Just before tipping into the abyss they will have an epiphany. They perceive the smallest amount of planning to be profane, trusting the ether to provide them with inspiration when it is needed. Unfortunately, this leads to a lot of blank stares during important moments. Too often the inspiration never comes. Preparation is the match that can start a fire. Without it we are waiting for lightning to strike.
I recently saw a documentary about filmmaker James Toback called The Outsider. Toback is a notoriously spontaneous writer and director, often waiting until the day of filming to decide in what direction the movie will go. He lets his actors improvise liberally to fill the characters with personality and realism. What he ends up with are shockingly natural and raw performances.
I don’t think that the arts could exist without a healthy dose of spontaneity, improvisation and inspiration. But there is a powerful place for being prepared. Planning is the groundwork that should be laid to take full advantage of the inspiration. Like setting out a rain barrel to catch the rain.
Creative individuals often thrive on the disorganized and the slightly chaotic. Just before tipping into the abyss they will have an epiphany. They perceive the smallest amount of planning to be profane, trusting the ether to provide them with inspiration when it is needed. Unfortunately, this leads to a lot of blank stares during important moments. Too often the inspiration never comes. Preparation is the match that can start a fire. Without it we are waiting for lightning to strike.
I recently saw a documentary about filmmaker James Toback called The Outsider. Toback is a notoriously spontaneous writer and director, often waiting until the day of filming to decide in what direction the movie will go. He lets his actors improvise liberally to fill the characters with personality and realism. What he ends up with are shockingly natural and raw performances.
I don’t think that the arts could exist without a healthy dose of spontaneity, improvisation and inspiration. But there is a powerful place for being prepared. Planning is the groundwork that should be laid to take full advantage of the inspiration. Like setting out a rain barrel to catch the rain.
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