Without enthusiasm you will never accomplish anything correctly in art.
Advice to Young Musicians – Robert Schumann
Ohne Enthusiasmus wird nichts Rechtes in der Kunst zu Wege gebracht.
After two years working as a church musician, I realized there is a big gap between the music I learned and the occupational music. I need to deal with the disappointments and come back to the origin: the reason that made me start to study church music.
Years ago, I was in a church and heard music that touched my heart. Somehow, later, I have got the opportunity to learn this music. This music helped me experienced God’s love especially during my darkest hours. And I want to share those music that meaningful to me to other. It is a meaningful occupation, but when the job nature against my personality, I should think over again. I believe there will be many ways to share quality music other than working as an employed musician.
To be fair, without the security that my job provided, I can not be creative, can not buy concert tickets, can not travel to get my organ lesson every week, can not pay for my organ lesson. I come back from organ lesson at another city, at the same night is choir rehearsal in my city, after choir rehearsal, I am preparing material to write. The next day, I clear the office work before I go to practice for work, lesson, concert.
Not enough time to sleep? I am the one to blame, I put too much effort on the thing I love to do. But I will not scarify my enthusiasm at any price. Who am I when I am not doing the stuff I love to do, it is just not me.
Anyway, I am exhausted. I just need a break to figure that out, another option.
The same thing for writing and creating content. Yeah, I am honest about my hope that one day I can have side income through creating content, so I can slowly moving forward to become a freelancer. However, I love creating content in the first place. The content that I am presenting here is the content that I am truly enthusiastic about. Also, the love is sustaining me to create. 10 years of writing blog and I am getting more and more exciting about it despite the embarrassing number of “follower” and “like” I get.
After reminding myself about “the why” of I started to learn music or writing, I will focus on the right thing again albeit the disappointing real situation. I am happy, because my organ playing is making progress and my blog has the content that I desired. They are not generating income, but they are generating invaluable value to me.
Many of you might also realized the gap between the workplace situation and your passion. I can imagine as a journalist, lawyer, doctor, social worker also facing harsh reality at work too. You care about truth as a journalist, you care about justice as a lawyer, you want to help people as a doctor, you care about socially marginalized groups as a social worker. It drive you mad, when people twist the truth, trade justice with money, cure only the important rich patient, care to build career much more than helping people in need. Then, may be it helps to ask the question, what made me apply for the university for this major years ago? It is not only in art that we need enthusiasm, but in every profession.
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