Following the Path Laid Down
Tuning My Creative Direction with the Help of Other Artists
My father told me, “being a professional musician isn’t a serious job” and I believed him. I think this, more than anything else, warped my sense of who I was versus who I could be.
jI started playing drums when I was fifteen and it changed my life forever. I was a lost and lonely nerd who was not good at sports and, while clearly smart, my grades were only just enough to get by and I could not stick with anything for longer than a few minutes. They didn’t have a term for ADHD back in those days, so instead I was just punished for my inability to sit in my seat and do the things I was told to do.
But then my friend Oliver got a bass for Christmas and I pulled my dad’s drum kit out of storage and started banging on it. And it wasn’t put back into the garage until I got a bigger replacement kit 15 years later. For a while there, I played every single day.
In one quick moment, the universe fell into place for me. I like to say that drumming saved me. And I was pretty good at it too.
So it took me a long while to understand why he didn’t want me to follow my passion and really take a stab at playing drums professionally. Years after his death, I came to realize that for his generation, getting a nice, cushy desk job with benefits and a salary - that was the dream. Then you can have hobbies, etc, but why would you put your life and family on the line in pursuit of something that may or may not happen? When instead you can just go to college, graduate, find a spouse, get a job and a house, and SNAP, everything is in its place.
I don’t resent him (anymore) for burdening me with his generation’s rigid expectation of what success looks like, and my life to this point has been a crazy road of music and writing and friends and love and heartbreak and drinking and sobriety and anxiety and judgment and expectations and… just everything that we are once we get to middle age. And I’m very happy with who I am today.
But it’s time for a change.
Do or Do Not
I just finished watching season 2 of the Star Wars show Andor and if you’re a fan of the universe at all, or just a fan of good TV writing, then it really is a must watch.
In the choice between having ONE main hobby/passion/side hustle (whatever you want to call it), long ago I chose writing over music, for better or worse. So in the swirl of my midlife crisis last winter, I started consuming a lot of books, podcasts, and videos on creativity lately. Like, A LOT A LOT.
A good chunk of my posting here will be focused on sharing cool things from other artists that have inspired me to update my thinking/doing along this rejuvinated creative journey, because I think a good chunk of our creativity needs to both intake other perspectives and also support other artists, especially now. It’s one of the reasons why Substack is so cool and we’re all here enjoying each other’s company and creativity.
All of this to say, there’s no going back for me now, and I have many, many plans for this space, my writing, and further creative endeavors. So stay tuned, because I’m all in on this. My definition of success, at least in the next year, is just about writing a lot and sharing with as many people as possible.
But to do so, I’m going to need to update some perspectives.
Learning by Doing
Like many people, I learn best by doing the thing I’m trying to learn. I’ve been in corporate America taking various trainings for decades and an easy way to get me to roll my eyes is to tell me to passively watch a presentation for 30, 60, or 90 minutes and then take a quiz to test what I learned.
Ugh. Not fun.
But left to my own devices, I really love trying new things, which often means failing at them and being uncomfortable for a period of time as my brain rewires itself. Like posting here on Substack - I have no idea what I’m doing and am literally just reading posts and trying new things. But I have been blogging for a long time (click here to read posts on gaming and music for the past 11+ years) and podcasting for 5+ years (starting Episode 190 which seems like eternity ago) and so we take one set of experiences and build the next step, learning as we go.
In this effort to tune my life and direction toward the greater online writing community, I’ve been soaking up tons of amazing ideas and inspiration over the past six months. Here are a few things I learned and how I hope to apply them:
Amazing Art is Everywhere
It’s a really important reminder from Amie McNee that, despite what people may say, everyone loves good art. They do.
Music? Books? Movies? TV? Listening to a good story? And my favorite hill to die on: tabletop role-playing games? Any and all of them: art.
We are surrounded by popular art all the time (e.g. Star Wars above) and the idea that artists are frivolous is ludicrous. We know we need art, but society has weird relationships with artists, both needing them and needing to shun them to function properly. Fine, whatever, this is how we’re doing things now.
But it’s important to remember that (nearly) everyone consumes art, reads books, watches movies and TV, listens to music, plays games, and just engages with the result of artist’s work all the time.
Not that I or you need a justification to be here, doing this, but it’s important to remember that our work is important, that supporting each other is important, and that being part of the community is important. The stakes are real, and if you are creating then you are on the front lines.
So go watch this video by Amie and be inspired. Then go buy her book. This is how we save art and ourselves.
Fewer Plates to Spin
A few months ago I read Slow Productivity by Cal Newport and, like many of my recommended artists, it changed my life. The core messages here are that, a) we need to do fewer things, b) we need to focus on doing those fewer things as best as we can, and c) we need to slow down and really think about big decisions before we take on new work - the kind that can lead to overcommitting and burnout.
(Now, sometimes I find Cal’s work is in direct friction with Seth Godin’s perspective, whose book The Practice also changed my life - more later on him - but he’s more about not getting too caught up in overthinking the quality and just putting your work out there, which really aligns with how Substack works… For now, I’m just being inspired by both until I get into a rhythm.)
Yesterday, as I am contemplating turning this “newsletter” into a regular YouTube channel, I was reminded to take a long time when making large-scale creative decisions, and that I’m not in any rush to fully commit to a new project (especially not until I spin down one or more of my other current obligations). I was literally on the cusp of committing large chunks of my time to a massive social and creative endeavor, in a time when I’m already exhausted from spinning so many plates.
What I really need is some deep rest and contemplation and just writing a bunch on this platform, sharing my ideas and inspirations to all you amazing readers.
Just… slow down. Really, there’s no rush.
It’s a really important lesson to learn.
(Don’t have enough money or attention to buy his book? Then his podcast is a really great way to insert bite-sized chunks of wisdom into your brain. Definitely check him out.)
Call to Action
That’s all I’ve got for today - hopefully you find some inspiration from those incredible artists.
I am always open to recommendations and feedback - it’s one of the main reasons I’ve joined this large community with many other writers and artists. I want to see and read and hear what everyone else is digging into and build a shared experience.
Please share your own links in the comments:
What have you read or heard lately that inspires you?
Have you read or seen anything on my list? How did it inspire you?
What are your favorite ways to find new inspiration?
I’d love to hear how you’re staying engaged in creativity. Drop a note when you get a moment.