“There’s nothin’ in the world so sad as talking to a man who never knew his life was his for making”
–Ray LaMontagne, Old Before His Time
A few weeks ago I went to a Ray LaMontagne concert at The Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York. His soulful, authentic folk/rock style always moves me. This night was no different. At one point I found a tear running down my cheek. I couldn’t even tell you why. Something just struck a chord in me.
Interestingly, on this night the most moving part of the show wasn’t LaMontagne’s music. It was something he said between songs. He mentioned how amazed he was that people bought his music. He was saying this even though he had won the 2011 Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album and one song, Beg, Steal, and Borrow, had been nominated for Song of the Year.
Initially, the cynic in me thought – this is just a star feigning humility. But as he talked about the difficult process of getting his last album completed, I realized he was being genuine.
To get the album done he had eschewed the traditional production process, grabbed a bunch of musicians he really liked, gone to his house in New England, and churned the album out in two weeks. His producers didn’t like the music. They didn’t think it was marketable. They told him to go back to the drawing board. He pushed back and told them no. He told them that the album he gave them was the album he was putting out, end of story. Against their judgment, they capitulated. A year or so later came the Grammy win.
I found the story moving because it reminded me of how difficult the creative process is for everyone. It didn’t matter that LaMontagne had already sold over 1 million records in his career. Or that he was considered one of the top modern-day folk musicians. He wanted to create something different and people were pushing back on him hard. He had to fight to make the new music he wanted to make. And throughout he didn’t know how it was really going to land with his audience.
It reminded me that true creation is inherently groundless—regardless of who you are. It always takes guts.
– Doug
Having lost my job after 34 years of service, my wife and I attended a seminar on living in Mexico. Two months later, we had an estate sale and sold everything and 6 weeks after that we packed our car and moved to Mexico. Crossing the border after 5200 miles of saying good bye to friends and family, the feeling was scary and exhilarating at the same time. We never said “Oh my, what have we done?” It was always positive and exciting once we got past immigration. And it has proven to be a wonderful experience three years later. Forced retirement has been a blessing.
Ross – a great example!
I totally relate to this story. I have learned that the magic ingredient is confidence. As I create I sometimes find myself looking for approval. I want someone to say “YES that’s a great idea.” Then when I really want to create something and others don’t agree, I go into a state of doubt.
What I’ve learned in the process of creating is that once I have confidence it’s easy to get approval, but when I’m seeking it, it’s elusive. We have to go within to know what is ours to create.
Marlene, that’s an excellent distinction. Thanks for sharing it. Finding confidence before you have the proof that you should be confident is one of the “arts” of taking risks.
I have felt while building our vacation rental business over the last five years it is hard to break through the walls to go to the next level. Each time I had to take the step of faith and believe I was making the right move or at least I wasn’t making the wrong one. Whether or not the next move was the best it still led me in the direction of moving forward. I always remind myself of the sayings “what would you do if you knew you could not fail” and “if your not on the edge you are taking up to much space”. not sure who said these first but they encourage me.
Matthew – your story also reminds me of a favorite Peter Drucker quote. “Wherever you see a successsful business someone made a courageous decision.”