“I know that to sustain these true moments of insight, one has to be highly disciplined, lead a disciplined life.”
– Henry Miller
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting the guitarists Nick Johnston and Aaron Marshall at their guitar clinic.
I’ve got to admit, though, that I’m not that into Aaron’s music. It was Nick who I really wanted to see. Among other great music, Nick composed one of the most beautiful instrumental songs I’ve ever listened to, titled Remarkably Human.
Like many of Nick’s songs, Remarkably Human has a life of its own. Despite being completely instrumental, you feel like it’s telling you a grand, epic story. And much like life itself, you may not know exactly what the story means as you’re hearing it unfold. But you just let go, and let it take you on its rollercoaster journey.
Hearing Nick play the song in person was a hell of an ethereal experience. But hearing him talk about the creative process behind the song was just as uplifting. Because he reminded us all that he was, remarkably human.
It’s tempting to assume that for such an expressive artist like Nick, his music comes easy, that he hears music in his head all the time, and that he doesn’t have to struggle to come up with good songs. But that simply isn’t true.
As Nick told us, “The only way to be a good songwriter is to listen to a lot of songs, and to write a lot of songs.”
Every day, Nick would wake up at 5 a.m., make himself a cup of coffee, and sit at his piano. (He doesn’t typically start the songwriting process with his guitar, otherwise he would just be mindlessly noodling.)
His songs don’t normally write themselves. Sitting at his piano, he would hear only the faintest whisper of inspiration. But with whatever idea he has in his cards, he would work with it, with sheer grit, one tiny step at a time. “Everything about my music is an accident,” he said. “It’s how I react to the accident that matters. It’s what I do to make it right.”
The author David Brooks said that “(Great creative minds) think like artists, but work like accountants.”
In doing creative work, your most valuable asset is your grit. It’s your ability to show up every day, to single-mindedly put in the work one small step at a time, and tinker with it until you get it just right.
Of course, sometimes, inspiration can come easily, making the creative process flow much more smoothly. But inspiration is like that one fickle friend who ghosts you, shows up again in your life whenever they want to, only to ghost you again.
Inspiration isn’t reliable, but grit is.
Izzat Zailan 