Cages or wings?
Easy Read
I re-watched Tick Tick Boom the other day.
The film follows Jon Larson's struggles to write the next Broadway showstopper. It inspires me to no end.
Midway through we see Jon suffocated and stretched by lifes pressures:
His mundane job at a diner
Supporting the love of his life
Watching friends abandon their dreams for a steady pay check
Losing friends to AIDS
Find the Easy Reads helpful? LEAVE A REVIEW
Image credit: DanaKap on Deviant Art
The buzzing of financial freedom, leaving New York for love, giving up on the show he’s been writing for eight years …
… all mulched up in his brain.
In one scene at the diner, Jon says:
“You get to a certain age, and you stop being a writer who waits tables, and you become a waiter with a hobby.”
Now, given Jon's situation half of us would crumble and go get that comfy job with health insurance, pension, and precious free coffee.
It takes a ballsy kind of person to reject that and choose your craft. That’s what Jon did.
The irresistible pull of creating something astonishing, something generational was inescapable. Tormenting almost.
And while his first musical flopped, the next sold out Broadway for 12 years straight.
He refused to be shackled in a prison for frightened dreamers.
There’s a lesson here for us, too.
As writers, some days we feel like the laziest screw-up ever.
Like we don’t have the stuff to play in the big kids sandbox. Like we’re sitting on pins and needles waiting for it all to pay-off.
Yes there will be brief excursions from the main quest. Dark alleys and pitfalls that are more a rite of passage than an exit route.
In these moments I want you to remember one thing. And that’s … why.
Why you obsess over writing copy. Why you are out here busting a gut to make it work.
My guess is you’re not motivated by money. But because you feel alive when those words bite into the page and you know you have gold.
Jon Larson wrote a musical for eight years to be told okay, now write the next one, maybe it’ll stick.
Our ride here is short. So why wouldn't you find what rocks your boat and go after it with everything you have?
You’re this close to those dreams.
🔎 Go deeper here: Copywriter, be patient
Or you can ignore it all. Wipe your hands, kick up your heels and turn away. Rest assured you’ll go on living, laughing and loving like you always have. Nothing will change. And wouldn’t that be a shame?
Cages or Wings? Which do you prefer?
Jon’s answer…
Ask the birds.
