“There’s never enough reassurance to make up for a lack of commitment to the practice.”
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Notes
Reassurance:
- Denies the reality that art might not work.
- Is short-term and temporary
- Shifts focus from the practice to success—process to product
- Seeks certainty, which “undermines everything we set out to create.”
Hope: trusting ourselves while accepting that what we’re working on might not work.
Thoughts
I understand that, by Seth’s definition, the practice involves work that might not work. And I can see how seeking reassurance about that—”it’ll all work out”—is at best futile and, at worst, counterproductive.
I don’t think I am actually concerned about whether or not the work will work—at least, not directly. The reassurance I might seek would involve myself—what do I have to offer? will this reveal that I’m an imposter?
That, of course, was the point of the whole first section of the book (“Trust Your Self”), so the fact that this concern still lives in my head suggests I have a ways to go. It’s interesting, too, that the antidote to both types of reassurance are the same: trust yourself, trust the process. It may not work! That’s the territory.
As I write this, I recall that trusting yourself isn’t a prerequisite for starting; trust is earned and learned through the practice. And I still couldn’t answer you if you asked what my practice is.
This series is meant to capture my thoughts as I work through Seth Godin’s The Practice. It’s a book with over 200 (very short) chapters, which I hope to work through and, I further hope, to implement over time.
If you’re interested in more of Godin’s ideas, or my thoughts about them, you can check out this collection of posts. Note that if you’re more interested in the former, you should probably get Godin’s book and read it yourself; my notes will be both incomplete and idiosyncratic, and my thoughts will relate to my own experience.
But if my thoughts resonate with you, or if you think I’m just silly, I welcome your comments.