Do Your Work and Finish the Damn Project with Joy

I have a post-it note above my painting table that says “Do Your Work” and it stares at me in the moments when I’m thinking about plans instead of acting on them.

"…as [George Orwell] was avoiding writing, he ‘did so with the consciousness that I was outraging my true nature and that sooner or later I should have to settle down and write books.” — The Second Mountain, David Brookes, p88

I trudged up a steep emotional hill to get to work this morning. God it was almost painful. Life felt weird all morning and I knew that feeling wouldn’t go away until I sat down at my computer and mixed a song. The end of the album is upon us and the last bit of work is nitty gritty technical mixing and mastering. I’m adjusting frequencies, deciding which sounds go in the left ear of the headphones and which go to the right. I’m zooming in on the audio waves and cutting out tiny little jagged bumps so my singing sounds smoother. I’m opening and closing my DAW projects over and over, exporting, upload, listening to the same song dozens of times, searching with my ears for any blip or weird feeling. This is the part of the process when we polish and decide how the world will hear this music. It’s a big deal and the work requires 100% focus. I can’t multitask, have any background noise or let my mind wander for even a moment. This intensity scares me away. But this morning, the sunshine filled a blue sky and I sat in my driveway with my morning tea, watching clouds move and I asked myself, WHY AM I EXCITED TO DO THIS WORK? HOW DO WE MAKE IT FUN?

If my music were a play on Broadway, the rehearsals are done and tonight we’re getting ready for the big show. We’re in the dressing room putting on makeup. The final touches are exciting - it’s a celebration of how far we’ve come. Last summer, I decided to create and album and here we are, almost at the finish line. Don’t give up right before the end! Don’t hate your baby just as you’re about to give birth (just because the birth is kinda painful). Dive in with all the enthusiasm you have left and carry it through to the finish with love. Serve your work. Show up with your whole heart and make sure this project emerges into the world with the power it deserves; make sure you’re proud of it.