Throwing in the towel
Oh, hi friends!
The assignment for my lyrics writing class this week was to write a song based on an already composed piece of music.
Fitting lyrics to melody. How hard could it be?
Of course, it was hard. It nearly broke my brain to try and retrofit rhymes and story and song form and character onto three-and-a-half minutes of music. I listened to the music over and over again. I wanted to stop. I didn’t want to go to class.
And then, for some reason, I thought…how nice it is to try something hard. This is the worst I’ll ever be at this particular task, and each time after this might be just a little bit easier.
Isn’t that something?
"A first-year medical student sees an experienced surgeon at work and thinks, ‘I can get there one day—just need to do about 20 years of hard work.’ But when a young artist or entrepreneur or software engineer looks at the equivalent of the experienced surgeon in their field, they’re more likely to think, ‘Wow look how talented they are—I’m nowhere near that good,’ and get all hopeless."
Wait But Why strikes again with an epic read (with stick figures!) on how to pick a career (that fits you). It's easy to forget that every job requires more hard work than talent. So keep reminding yourself again and again.
A couple years ago, I went through a big Casey Neistat phase (he’s a YouTuber who produced a daily vlog for many, many months, all of which I watched. Longtime h/t Alison Peters).
Some relationships ebb and flow and I haven’t watched in awhile, but this 11-minute video on “No Excuses” is a return to form. He talks about obstructions—we all have them—and how to not turn them into excuses. Casey chats with Quentin Kenihan, who you might recognize from Max Max Fury Road. I knew I liked the video and then Quentin said this: “I know I grabbed the brass ring in life.” Well, whaddya know.
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Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara