What keeps you working? (George Carlin’s IRS problem)
I’ve been watching George Carlin’s HBO specials on Netflix and interviews on Youtube, which led me to ask this question: “What keeps us working?”
George Carlin entertained for 50 years, a journey of four creative cycles of developments.
However, Carlin once shared how he got into trouble with the IRS. He wasn’t paying attention to how his finances were being managed, and ended up owing quite a bit of back taxes, fees, etc.
When he hired a new manager in the early 80s, the two of them worked out a process to keep paying the IRS off just enough to “keep them away from the door.” Carlin’s tax problem was so bad, there was a lien on his house.
He admitted, “I didn’t have it paid off until 2001.”
A 20 year problem.
A period where Carlin’s writing, his philosophical and comedic development, led to major breakthroughs, creatively.
Which leads me to wonder, would Carlin have continued to work so much if he financially didn’t need to work that much? Was the IRS problem a blessing?
Now, I might be seeking connections of dots that don’t connect. Maybe Carlin would have continued working because he was driven artistically. He often shared the true motivation of the artist’s journey. “Art doesn’t have a finish line.” But clearly, Carlin financially had to work throughout the 90s.
The question all artists must ask, is, what keeps you working?
We often focus on what stops us from working, rather than what keeps us working. Any answer, even a difficult one, can lead to any incredible productivity.
It’s how we look at it.
Wannabe. This term of the 90s has resurfaced in the music industry of the post-downloading era.
Wannabe used to mean “pretending to be something you’re not…” a term employed often during the hip-hop genre’s rise to commercial success; nowadays, it’s used as a general criticism, implying “lack of talent” or “seeking stardom.”
Lefsetz wrote a solid blog of advice titled, “Wannabe Rules.”
The essence of the blog is informative, and that main theme is inarguable: the music always matters more, before image, before social networking, before everything.
But that title, “Wannabe Rules,” left me wondering, aren’t we all wannabes?
Sure, Lefsetz is writing to those songwriters and musicians who want to be more famous, or more well known, or more regarded, or more financially sustainable.
But what about the famous musician who wants to be allowed to have privacy again?
Or the commercially successful pop singer who wants to move on to jazz but is fighting a label’s hesitations?
Or a bachelor who wants to find a soul mate. A married couple who seek their romantic spark again. Newlyweds who want to start a family.
We are all wannabes, we just desire different things at different times of our lives. It simply means we’re alive, growing, adapting. And in the end, if you’ve ever finished a song, famous or not, you are already that: a songwriter.
Grandpa Burg, a violin hero inspiring future musicians!
There is no better goal to be want to be as a musician: one who continues to love to play past age 90!
Johnson City canceled tonight, May 18
Yesterday, Riot Fest posted an atrocious PR photo spoofing the Twitter campaign that was used to gain national attention of the child victims kidnapped in Nigeria.
Not one person publicly criticized the photo. Not one person.
The photo got 500+ likes on Instagram.
When I woke up today, I will admit realizing a personal irony: It’s easier for me to overact about a music festival’s promo photo because I have no idea how to feel about an atrocity happening miles away from my comfortable life.
But I also am left asking another question, “Where’s my generation’s Pete Seeger?”
I don’t mean musically; I mean a songwriter who actually stands for something, and continues to walk that journey until the shadow of death.
Not one band playing the festival said anything about that photo.
We’ve lost something, folks.
I read somewhere that it takes 21 consecutive days to make an action an habit.
Habits are a hard thing to break, but I’ve been evaluating my productivity and happiness during this spring. I finally made a simple decision that has helped me avoid procrastination:
I deleted all social media from my phone.
(Additional note: I also changed the passwords to complex things that I won’t memorize to prevent myself from signing in from mobile browsers!)
I don’t want to abandon Twitter and Facebook. I love staying in touch with people, seeing their photos, keeping up with news articles, etc.
But spending time on my computer doesn’t make me happy. Playing music does; spending time with my wife does; reading a book does; writing a poem does; taking my dog for a walk does. (Or at least the walks make Lois happy.)
So I’m on day five of limiting my media consumption, and, coincidentally, I’m on day five of practicing more music. I’m also a little happier.
Let’s see if I can stick with it, at least for 21 days.
Oh Lois, you are unhappy when your owners are looking at blinkie screens, too.
