Making the art you want to make requires tenacity. A lot of it.
I am writing this after a house concert featuring a former student who graduated high school over a decade ago. She’s got her new second album coming out and is going out on tour with the Crane Wives. And I’m sure she’d tell you that it took longer to get to her incredible proficiency than she expected. She has mastered many skills and delivered a fantastic concert; it took years of work and commitment to the art to get there.
We all know the cliche of the “overnight success” taking ten years; I’m more moved by all the blossoming artists who put their art aside after seven or eight. Having the tenacity to keep growing and improving when we aren’t yet seeing results can be hard; the tenacity to see it through is essential.
It takes longer than you think to get where you’re going.
Don’t. give. up.