From one of my recent emails from The Soft Run:
As I approached this house a kid (maybe 10 or 11) came running around a corner today, and yelled, asking to use my phone.
Then as I got closer, I realized he wasn’t wearing socks or shoes!
Just another day, just another run, right? Nope. One run out of almost 300 this year, and never once did I see a jeep set-up like the one above, nor did I help a kid get back into his house after being locked out in the middle of winter with no shoes or socks. BRRR.
I keep getting lost in the binary thinking of success, of making it. Either you’re a popular YouTube star with a million subscribers, or you’ve only got 13 and it feels like a waste of time.
You want to be this “thing,” but you don’t have the “social evidence” that you are the thing.
Are you a musician if no one buys your music? Are you a writer if no one replies to your pitches? Are you a photographer if you’re images aren’t on magazine covers?
Again, permission. Waiting for permission is the killer.
I am 44 years old – what right do I have to wear gaudy purple sneakers and tights and a cool jacket and run around the backroads here?
I work in music – what right do I have to make “dark ambient” mixes? What, do I think I’m going to MAKE IT?!?!
Wait, I thought I made dark ambient mixes – why am I making smooth chill jams with funky stock video footage?
Because I choose to.
Am I now locked into that identity? Must I now maintain a weekly music mix? Set up a live stream? Do a daily tune and post on every social network?
Well, if I choose to, sure.
Just go be everything you want to be. Doesn’t matter if it looks right, sounds right, has the right presentation – just make a little bit of magic each day.
This post partially inspired by Seth Godin’s ‘The Practice: Ship creative work‘ book.