It’s the climb

If you’re considering using artificial intelligence and generative technology in your creative process, just remember these two parables. First:

An old man in Calcutta would walk to get water from a well every day. He’d carry a clay pot and lower it by hand slowly, all the way down, careful not to let it hit the sides of the well and break.

Once it was full, he’d raise the pot slowly and carefully again. It was a focused, time-consuming act.

One day, a traveler noticed the old man engaged in this difficult task. More experienced with mechanics, he showed the old man how to use a pulley system.

“This will allow the pot to go straight down quickly,” the traveler explained, “then fill with water and come back up, without hitting the sides. It’s much easier and the pot will be just as full with much less work.”

The old man looked at him and said, “I think I’m going to keep doing it the way I always have. I really have to think about each movement and there’s a great deal of care that goes into doing it right. I’d imagine if I were to use the pulley, it would become easy and I might even start thinking about something else while doing it. If I put so little care and time into it, what might the water taste like? It couldn’t possibly taste as good.”

The Creative Act (pp. 93-94), by Rick Rubin

Second:

In order to be a true hustler, you have to chase the gratification that can only come from making things happen yourself, when you have a vision that no one else can identify with and pour everything you have into it. You find yourself in valley after valley and can’t ever quite catch a glimpse of the mountaintop. But you keep pushing forward, until that one day when you finally do make it to that peak. Man, that’s going to be the best damn view you ever saw in your life. You’re going to soak up every bit of that mountain air and enjoy every inch of the panorama spread out in front of you.

But if someone just drove you up to the top of that mountain? If you just sat your butt in a car, turned on the AC, and cruised up to the top? It would not be the same. You didn’t sweat and sacrifice to get up there. The drink of water you took on the mountaintop wouldn’t taste as invigorating. The air wouldn’t feel as amazing. The view wouldn’t be as inspiring. You can only get true fulfillment and happiness from enjoying the achievement you made happen yourself.

Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter (pp. 254-255), by 50 Cent

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