on being paid for work, and the work being good...

[acroyear]

Robert Fripp's Diary for Sunday, 7th November 2010:

I agree, to the extent that it’s good to be paid for your work while noting that receiving payment is not an inevitable nor necessary outcome in my own field of professional endeavour (this also on the basis of experience). I attempted to convey the notion that, if you remove enthusiasm from the aspirant artist, work is only a professional activity. When this happens, the aspirant artist begins to die on the inside.



Number-crunchers don’t give a hoot for this line of thought, particularly for an accountant who has moved into “artist management”. Well-meaning number crunchers pay lip service to the notion, but don’t factor it into their computations. Well-meaning business-representatives, who are also fans & enthusiasts, even those wholly committed to a particular artist and/or venture, nevertheless tend to cook their Golden Goose. And later, wonder why the well-basted artist seems to be doing less than they used to in the way of promotion, interviews, in-stores with fan autography–photography, touring & recording. Surely the artist can’t have as rich, creative & satisfying a life outside the public domain? Don’t they want to be the centre of attention for uniformed commentary & consumer demands?



It comes down to this: you do shitty things for as long as you do shitty things. 



Reasonably & rationally arguing for a balanced life, holding the overview of qualitative & quantitative elements, has signally failed for me. I have only stopped doing shitty things when I have said no. Regrettably, often a yes has been possible, even a preferred option. But, you only stop doing shitty things when you stop doing them. How to express this positively? Perhaps: you do good things when you accept nothing less than good things. I prefer this form…



You do what is Right when you accept nothing less than what is Right.