Nothin’ To It!

Sometimes when I finish a task or after teaching someone how to do something, I’ll say, “Nothin’ to it!” The phrase is my way of watering down said task, to help myself and others see how much easier it is than we thought.

It’s no secret that I do many different things: I compose music, I paint, I design and develop games, and I write occasionally. Throughout my life, people have asked me, “Is writing music difficult?” or have said, “Good for you, I could never do that!” I often respond with, “Yeah, it can be difficult,” or, “Thanks, I enjoy it.”

But, as I continue to gain experience and in my own reflections, I realize that, no, what I do - music, art, games, writing - is not difficult. At least not in the way that people have meant it when they say, “I could never do that!”

Even if you’ve never done it before, it’s not difficult to sit at a piano and play notes. It’s not difficult to put paint to canvas. Nor is it difficult to take two dice and make a new drinking game or write a paragraph of your own story.

All of those activities are pretty easy.

I’ll tell you the part that is difficult - actually, I don’t need to tell you. People have said it to me many times, and I’ll pass it on: “I could never do that!”

Starting.

THAT is the difficult part.

Imagine a world in which we say, “laundry, I could never do that!” or, “dishes, I could never do that!” or, “bathing, I could never do that!” That would be largely silly - these are all routine activities (and yes, I acknowledge that mental illness and disabilities affect these activities). Even if it’s seldom, in some way or another these activities eventually happen and it’s never a never.

Starting is often one of the most difficult steps of doing anything. I know I experience it every day of the week. “How do I begin composing this next piece of music?” or “What do I paint first on this blank canvas?”

I enjoy watching lifestyle and life-work balance videos of other creatives, in which they talk about steps they take to maintain their own balance, or discuss their process(es) of starting new projects, or maybe even unraveling their own creative blocks. There’s always insightful nuggets of knowledge which I harvest for Future Me. Just this week, I watched one such video on Youtube by Megan Brush, in which she said: If you don’t do it, then you won’t do it.

Wow.

If you don’t do it, then you won’t do it.

Hey, I’m guilty of hemming and hawing and NOT doing a thing because of XYZ reasons (read: excuses to avoid doing a thing). I’ll also tell you that the constipation of guilt from avoidance isn’t a fun time. In my experience, it’s actually far worse than just doing a thing in the first place.

Doesn’t matter if the thing is laundry, dishes, bathing, composing music, painting, designing games, or writing. Maybe it’s meal prep or exercising or returning your overdue library book. It really, truly doesn’t matter what it is.

If you don’t do it, then you won’t do it.
If you don’t start, then you won’t start.

For example: if I hadn’t started this blog entry, then I wouldn’t be able to write that it’s finished and I’m now going to start my next project.

Nothin’ to it!