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July 10th

LOVE THE HUMBLE ART

“Love the humble art you have learned, and take rest in it. Pass

through the remainder of your days as one who whole-heartedly

entrusts all possessions to the gods, making yourself neither a

tyrant nor a slave to any person.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.31

top by a comedy club any weekend night in New York or Los Angeles
and you’re likely to find some of the world’s biggest and most
commercially successful comedians in there, workshopping their craft for
just a handful of people. Though they make a fortune in movies or on the
road, there they are, practicing the most basic form of their art.
If you ask any of them: “Why are you doing this? Why do you still
perform?” The answer is usually: “Because I’m good at it. Because I love it.
Because I want to get better. Because I thrive on connecting with an
audience. Because I just can’t not do it.”
It’s not work for them to get up on stage at Carolines or the Comedy
Cellar at 1 a.m. It’s invigorating. They don’t have to do it. They’re free, and
they choose this.
Whatever humble art you practice: Are you sure you’re making time for
it? Are you loving what you do enough to make the time? Can you trust that
if you put in the effort, the rest will take care of itself? Because it will. Love
the craft, be a craftsman.