I made myself a pretty screen saver for my computer earlier this year. It had flowers and curly font and it said: "To achieve success, care less." At some point, I took that screen saver down. Perhaps I should resurrect it. 💜
The music was highly experimental. It was an experiment in creativity and pushing boundaries, and the polar reactions of the audience, from stoicism to excitement demonstrates nobody can predict what will come of it. Possibly nothing. Possibly a new digital age in music. Working in the Detroit area, where techno is said to have gained root, I heard a lot of experimental electronic music and musicians in the 1990s and 2000s. I can't imagine if they all said, "Yeah, but will people like it and will it make us money... maybe we should sound more commercial." Unabashed creativity can breed a renaissance.
I am going to read this piece again and again and again (thanks to Freddie DB who pointed me here!). The "fuck you" attitude to art IS the thing I am trying to cultivate, thank you so much for articulating it so well Amy.
You don't know how thankful I am by finding this SO SPECIFIC reading... I'm a 30 year old, non-binary person with ADHD trying to be successful in the music business. What a relief.
And I agree, I need to care less to be successful: I'm too afraid and embarrased, too cringe of my own lyrics before even having them started...
This lit me up. And it got me rethinking the semantic potential of the word ‘arrogant’ -- it becomes an essential virtue if the social forces against which it is set are limiting or destructive.
I started Rick’s book, and I loved every page until I stopped picking it back up. A year or two ago, I might have blamed an allergy to woo. Now, though, it ends up feeling like too much of a good thing. Or, actually, as I’m exploring this in realtime, writing out this comment, I realize that it’s because reading it forced me to see how far outside of the good center of your Very Scientific Diagram I’ve been living. And how hard, how very, very hard it is to move back inward.
I really enjoyed Rick Ruben's book, even though there were times that it got so abstract that I couldn't always follow what he meant. I was impressed that after all those years working in the business of music that he was able to hold onto such pure views of creativity. Also, I hate the word "woo." Why can't we come up with something better than that?
I believe what you call "arrogance" and Peterson calls "confidence," Elizabeth Gilbert calls "entitlement." It's interesting that women come up with more offensive sounding words for what basically amounts to, "feeling like you're allowed to do what you want with the resources you have."
Did you feel like Wired to Create helped you live a more creative life or was it just interesting to read?
"Most creativity garners zero acclaim or wealth, and that’s the real stuff, bro." <-- THANK YOU FOR ADDRESSING THIS! I'm so tired of the "it's okay to be yourself or experiment as long as you have some traditional success to show for it" attitude out there!
I made myself a pretty screen saver for my computer earlier this year. It had flowers and curly font and it said: "To achieve success, care less." At some point, I took that screen saver down. Perhaps I should resurrect it. 💜
It reminds me of the early inception of techno, and this video of Kraftwerk in 1970:
https://youtu.be/hWUiLJnEYJI?si=I2fCclWEGBLsAiFV
The music was highly experimental. It was an experiment in creativity and pushing boundaries, and the polar reactions of the audience, from stoicism to excitement demonstrates nobody can predict what will come of it. Possibly nothing. Possibly a new digital age in music. Working in the Detroit area, where techno is said to have gained root, I heard a lot of experimental electronic music and musicians in the 1990s and 2000s. I can't imagine if they all said, "Yeah, but will people like it and will it make us money... maybe we should sound more commercial." Unabashed creativity can breed a renaissance.
I am going to read this piece again and again and again (thanks to Freddie DB who pointed me here!). The "fuck you" attitude to art IS the thing I am trying to cultivate, thank you so much for articulating it so well Amy.
You don't know how thankful I am by finding this SO SPECIFIC reading... I'm a 30 year old, non-binary person with ADHD trying to be successful in the music business. What a relief.
And I agree, I need to care less to be successful: I'm too afraid and embarrased, too cringe of my own lyrics before even having them started...
Thanks.
This lit me up. And it got me rethinking the semantic potential of the word ‘arrogant’ -- it becomes an essential virtue if the social forces against which it is set are limiting or destructive.
I started Rick’s book, and I loved every page until I stopped picking it back up. A year or two ago, I might have blamed an allergy to woo. Now, though, it ends up feeling like too much of a good thing. Or, actually, as I’m exploring this in realtime, writing out this comment, I realize that it’s because reading it forced me to see how far outside of the good center of your Very Scientific Diagram I’ve been living. And how hard, how very, very hard it is to move back inward.
Keep pushing arrogance. I think I need it.
I really enjoyed Rick Ruben's book, even though there were times that it got so abstract that I couldn't always follow what he meant. I was impressed that after all those years working in the business of music that he was able to hold onto such pure views of creativity. Also, I hate the word "woo." Why can't we come up with something better than that?
I believe what you call "arrogance" and Peterson calls "confidence," Elizabeth Gilbert calls "entitlement." It's interesting that women come up with more offensive sounding words for what basically amounts to, "feeling like you're allowed to do what you want with the resources you have."
Did you feel like Wired to Create helped you live a more creative life or was it just interesting to read?
"Most creativity garners zero acclaim or wealth, and that’s the real stuff, bro." <-- THANK YOU FOR ADDRESSING THIS! I'm so tired of the "it's okay to be yourself or experiment as long as you have some traditional success to show for it" attitude out there!