I watched Nick Cave’s biopic “20,000 Days on Earth” this weekend. The subplot that holds this documentary together is the creative process and what drives Cave to still create songs into his 50’s. The final scene’s soliloquy struck me as the best advice you could give a an entrepreneur or artist who is wavering on whether they should or should not pursue their idea:
All of our days our numbered
we cannot afford to be idle
To act on a bad idea is better than to not act at all
because the worth of the idea never becomes apparent until you do it
Sometimes this idea can be the smallest thing in the world
A little flame that you hunch over and cup with your hand
and pray will not be extinguished by all the storms that howl about it
If you can hold on to that flame
great things can be constructed around it
that are massive and powerful and world changing
All held up by the tiniest of ideas
I’ve always gathered business inspiration from artists. Most become accidental business people in their pursuit of the creative muse and fame and fortune. They are always having to balance the tight rope between being creatively relevant and commercially successful to stay in business. Before they become successful, many are ridiculed or shunned by friends and family for pursuing their “stupid little music” dreams…until they make it big.
They are not unlike the developers on Product Hunt and all their “dumb apps” for their tiniest of ideas. Here’s to those who take chances on the tiniest of ideas.
The final scene from “20,000 Days on Earth”: