Doing Less, Doing Better
So the Daphne Falls group is writing new songs, and while there are things I can add, there is not a lot I should add. The chords and the song forms they’re sending back and forth are just not my thing. Earlier in life, my instinct would have been, “Hey, I can do this — I can learn this.”
My current instinct is: This isn’t what I do.
What I can do is say, “Here’s an example of what I bring to the table. Otherwise, y’all keep writing, and I’ll play chords and leads over whatever you come up with.” And that is fantastically freeing.
You don’t have to do everything. You hunker down on the stuff you’re good at and try to do that better. That is the path. Even when what’s being asked of you is something I absolutely cannot do, I can now say with confidence, “Here is what I can add, here is what I can’t,” and then go on with my day.
Before, I probably would have felt bad about myself for not being able to do it 'll. But the older I get, the less I do — and the less stuff I do, the better I do it.