🎙 TREE 376: Duty is not enough

This week, please welcome back music producer Steven Lee Tracy. He’s writing the posts and choosing the songs. I’m drawing weird things. —Jeff

One.

Last year I had an intern who was a talented, classically trained musician. They also had a head for the technical stuff of a recording studio. It was a great combo, and I adored them.

Because of their classical background they approached things from an academic perspective. If I made a casual reference to an indie band during a recording session, they would dutifully scribble the artist and song down to research it later.

At one point I asked them if they liked or recreationally listened to any of the artists I had mentioned. They did not. When I asked them why they took down the notes to listen to later, their response was because they thought that they “should”.

This led to a conversation about what can make us good at what we do. As it turns out, it isn’t duty, but maybe it’s curiosity.

If your motivation for being a creative person is duty; because you think you “should” be creative, you will burn out… even if you ARE good. Additionally, your work will be up against creators that are joyful, curious about, and in love with the thing you feel merely dutiful towards. (Side note: we obviously all have parts of our jobs we don’t love, and we do them anyway because we’re grown-ass adults. This is not what we’re talking about here.)

If you have a shot of making your hobby your job, find the aspects of it that you feel curiosity and love for and start there. You may need others to fill in gaps for the parts you feel only dutiful towards, and that’s ok.

Two.

I wasn’t paying attention and did my inking directly over my pencil sketch. Normally, I use a light box and ink onto a clean sheet of paper. I didn’t dare try erasing the pencil because the fountain pen ink I use is only interested in the most casual of relationships with my paper. Anyway, now you know what my sketches look like.

Three.

For today’s song I chose Goldfrapp’s “Jo” because it is from my most favourite album to play on vinyl and it sounds like the 1970’s to me.

Remember, even though the change is usually invisible, you are growing every day.
—Jeff