When the Work Is Done The Work Begins

I recently asked “What’d we learn this year,” and Shane Valle offered this inspiring lesson:

“Of the 19 times someone performed one of my pieces of music (I’m a composer) this year, 17 of those times were because I directly reached out to an individual musician or ensemble, not because they were passively consuming or interacting with me or my content on social media.”

Finding musicians and ensembles to approach takes time and effort, and results aren’t promised. Posting to social media is much easier, and gets us off the hook – we get to say “hey, I tried!”

If the work we’re doing is magic, if it has the power to transform and uplift and inspire, then the work required to get it out there goes beyond just the work.

We made the work. Congratulations. Now the work begins.

Something like 100,000 songs get uploaded to streaming services everyday. Probably the same on YouTube, and Substack, and TikTok. Lots of people do that work, and then stop working.

Which is why our work doesn’t end.

The work we make needs to be cared for and nurtured, handled in a way that only we can handle it, and deliver it, and talk about it with the right people who are going to help expand our work.

Shooting up a flare that says “here’s my thing” is the bare minimum, but our work requires more, which is why a composer like Shane reaches out to individual musicians and ensemble.

It’s part of the work, to engage with the people in our creative orbit, and to network not just to increase the size of our rolodex, but to expand the energy of our work, and the work of others, around and around forever while we’re trying to make the world a more beautiful place.

The work leads to more work.