I often say that I’m not a music person–mainly because I’m not… at least not like a lot of other people I know how eat, breath, sleep, and generally live music. I enjoy music, but I don’t particularly seek it out or obsess over it.

What I do like, though, is a solid performance. Of anything. Regardless of whether I like the song or not, if the performer gives it their all and really puts themselves out there… well, the audience gets something special. Whether that “something” is what the performer intended is another story altogether (see: William Hung or, for that matter, Ed Wood when it comes to film making). In the feed today, right near the end, were three impressive musical bits. Two of them involved real singing, the third was pure performance (lip synching). All of them have impact and meaning beyond just the words or humor.

I dig that.

Same is true of anything where someone is putting themselves out there. It’s most obvious in performing or visual arts, but it’s also true of writing–both fiction and non-fiction. There’s another story in the feed that illustrates how you can’t just shut down people’s love for a story they relate to… and, more importantly, how absolutely backward the attempt to do so can go.

And wish science… well, science is an adventure all its own. You want risks and rewards, science has those in spades. Pursuing a line of questioning that no one else has–maybe that no one else even thinks has any value–that’s a committed act of will equal to anything else out there. Actually succeeding and seeing what you thought could be done become reality? Elation better than anything else.

I envy that kind of drive. I really can’t find it in myself. This is a problem. I’m working on it. Until I succeed, I just take solace and inspiration in those who do have it.