We are all works in progress.

I received a message very recently from someone who expressed to me the pain they experience through writing songs. The pain seems to come from the "if it aint a hit, it aint worth writing" way of thinking (as this person puts it).

I want to explore this way of thinking a little further if I may.

I think that the concept of "if it aint a hit, it aint worth writing" is more common among songwriters than we care to admit.

This struggle for perfection kills people.

It kills their creativity, kills inspiration and sometimes (in extreme circumstances) the drive to perfection can kill a person physically.

There is a big difference between being driven to write great songs and being driven to write 'perfect' songs.

In my reply to this message I wrote:

"Try not to see songwriting as a means to an end (the hit song) but as
a means to let yourself go. Dont put yourself under so much pressure."

And what pressure do you put yourself under? A lot!!

Is it worth it? NO!!

The notion of perfection is but a mere illusion. Created by the ego and massaged into existence by insecurity, jealousy, doubt, low self esteem, shame (and the list goes on and on).

Songwriting should be a celebration of life, of letting yourself, setting yourself free from your inner critic and just playing around by being yourself not reminding yourself how inadequate you are as a writer because you think you are not as good as others.

Always remember, there is not another you on this planet so therefore your experiences, your thoughts, your insights, your feelings, your dreams, your desires, your observations and the way that you question life, universe and everything are uniquely yours and yours alone.

What does that mean? It means that

1. There is no point in comparing yourself to others as there is no one else but you to compare yourself to in the first place

2. Being the unique creature that you are whatever you say is always very, very important.

The concept of perfection only exists if there was something perfect to attain in the first place. Now, there have been some amazing songs written out there but none of them are 'perfect' and never will be.