“I care very much about taking all the magic away, because you keep attributing your work to other forces and all that can do is disempower you. Really I feel that strongly.
I can do what I do, to the extent that I can do it, because of accumulated experience and graft. Mmm, and it’s very freeing.”
So I randomly came upon this quote this week from Tim Minchin who was speaking on a podcast about the process of making work - and about how he approaches his work.
He was talking about the journey he has been on, as a creator of music and plays and shows, to rid himself of any superstitions or ideas that would get in the way of him simply doing the work to make the thing. He spoke of how he has worked to believe that he doesn’t need the perfect place or perfect atmosphere or a ritual before he goes on stage but rather that it is simply a matter of showing up and doing the work.
The podcast reminded me that I haven’t talked about this for while on the blog. So I thought I’d pop in with a little reminder about how our perceptions of our own levels talent, creativity and inspiration are just stories that we have. There is no talent test. We have not sat a creativity test. And inspiration is incredibly overrated.
Showing up and doing the work is how we make the thing.
We don’t need to feel inspired.
We simply need to engage with our making practice and make.
Buying into cultural stories about needing to be creative/talented/inspired in order to make is simply a form of self-sabotage. And it’s utter bullshit.
We can make the things that we make because of our hard work and our accumulated experience. That is it.
We make because it makes us feel alive. And because it brings us joy. So setting aside our stories - both personal and cultural - is essential if we want to live the lives we can live when we are looking after our hearts and heads. It takes practice but it over time it leads to such magnificently beautiful freedom.
Big love to you all. And happy making the thing you want to make.
Get to it tigers!
Felicia
