@petergleick It's incredibly dumb of them. If Republicans actually want to ensure their hold on the government (which of course I don't want them to do, but if I were their strategist), they should come out against Trump as a guy who wants to take your guns, and oust him from office. It would humiliate Democrats and likely split the party. They should rally around a "good guy with a gun" and prove they are the law and order party who fights tyranny. They would win. But they're dumb.

You aren't going to master all of these things at once, or at the end of a course, or even upon a graduation. You are going to chase them, and come up short, forever.

Because it's hard. You don't suck. It's just hard.

If it were easy, it wouldn't be worth doing. Do the hard things.

And then there's the whole being inventive enough to be interesting, and the having a point of view. And then there's the discipline to keep it up because if you don't use your skills you lose them, and on and on. And then there's just simply the comprehension of music and poetry, which are themselves lifelong endeavors.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but music is hard. If you don't get something right away, it's because music is hard, not because you suck. You think that because the entire world looks at people who make art and says, "Anybody could do that." But that's not actually remotely true. It's both athletic and mentally challenging, and then there's the bravery required, and the ability to make a decision, and the performing under pressure part. (1/)