The Work

I remember being in college and hearing a quote from Elvis Costello or someone that referred to just “doing The Work.” At the time it sounded like the most pretentious thing in the world. It still does. But the more thought I put into what I do and the more I value my creative work and time, the more I begin to see that it’s more than a hobby or something I do for fun. Making music is a calling. It’s my calling. I need to take ownership of that and respect it. And that brings me to The Work.

I’ve taken to writing essays that no one will ever see. In fact, I have an entire manifesto in the works that might be read by a dozen people when it’s all said and done. In it, I rail against the common misconceptions around creating art and what an artist needs. The thesis comes from a stream of invective that goes back nearly two decades and still rings so true. As a result, I’m skeptical. Anything that I thought at 18 is suspect at best. But the more I roll it around, the more truth there is. Hey, blind squirrel, nut, and all that.

The more respect I have for what I do, the more respect I have for myself, time, and priorities. So it’s not ironically that I have started to referring to my creative output and process as The Work. Yeah, complete with caps. At first it felt corny and overwrought, but after some time it seems right. There’s a lot that goes into every piece that I create and acknowledging that fact contributes to my momentum. I wish more people could find that respect for the things that they do. We’d get a lot more cool stuff.

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