Here's another great Brian Eno quote from
Here Is What Is where he talks about what Daniel Lanois should put in
his documentary about the creative process of making music*.
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One thing that would be really interesting for your film is for people to see how beautiful things grow out of shit, because nobody ever believes that.
You know… everybody thinks that Beethoven had his string quartets completely in his head, that somehow appeared there and formed in his head, and all he had to do was write them down, and they would kind of be manifest to the world.
But… I think what’s so interesting… and what would really be a lesson that everybody should learn is that… things come out of nothing. Things evolve out of nothing. You know, the tiniest seed in the right situation turns into the most beautiful forest, and then, the most promising seed in the wrong situation turns into nothing.
And… I think this would be important for people to understand because it gives people confidence in their own lives to know that that’s how things work.
If you walk around with the idea that there are some people who are so gifted, that they have these wonderful things in their head, but you’re not one of them, you’re just sort of… a “normal” person, that you could never do anything like that, then… you live a different kind of life, you know?
You could have another kind of life where you can say, “Well, I know that things come from nothing very much and start from unpromising beginnings, and… I’m an unpromising beginning and I could start something."
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I wish I'd heard this when I was a kid. I wish we all heard this as kids.
The sad truth is that you *do* need talent or aptitude or skillz ... you can't just be something because you wanna be something (which is why I'll never be a singer in a band) ... but, so many people who have baby shoots of talent, the tingly beginnings of technique, or the tiny itch of a growing passion never take the first step toward their creative future because they believe they're nothing special.
And that's true. They're not something special. I'm not something special. You're not something special.
But don't let that stop you. Never let that stop you.
Now, go start something.
* I haven't seen it yet, but I *just* looked and Here Is What Is is on Netflix on demand. Yay!!!