😓 It can’t be good unless it's hard?
Book of TREE 1.66
Lie: if it’s easy, it’s bad.
Lie: it can’t be good unless it’s hard.
I was the victim of the protestant work ethic combined with spending my teenage years in a religious cult that was deeply suspicious of people doing anything that they loved. If you were naturally good at something, they taught, you should probably give it up, especially if doing the thing made you happy. Life was about sacrifice.
I really bought into it for a while.
I gave up drawing.
I gave up graphic design.
I didn’t go to university.
Except that I wasn’t any good at not drawing or designing. I just kept doing drawing and designing things, even when my job was something else. Eventually I realised that if something came naturally to me, it probably meant it was something I should be doing, not something I should be giving up.
So I accepted that I draw and design. It’s part of who I am. I eventually went and got a degree too. Those were three wonderful years.
If you find something that you are good at,
something you that brings you joy,
something that feels playful even when you are working incredibly hard,
something that creates good in the world,
KEEP DOING THAT THING.
The National have a live album coming out in December!
Happy weekend!
Jeff
This translates into art too. If you say a piece of art was easy to do, often people undervalue it. I love working in a state of flow, makes me glow inside. Those pieces feel completely complete.
What a great coincidence. Just a little bit before reading your post, I read one from Austin Kleon where he quotes Kris Kristofferson explaining a Blake poem: "He’s telling you that you’ll be miserable if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do."
So damn true and I really wonder how humanity has weaponized doing what we love. It is so bizarre. And I'm so glad you picked up your pencils and pens and all the software. The world is a better place for it.
(you can read the post about Kris Kristofferson and more here: https://austinkleon.com/2019/09/25/youll-be-miserable-if-you-dont-do-what-youre-supposed-to-do/