"Before the work comes to you, you have to invent work"
About this Quote
A working musician’s version of tough love, “Before the work comes to you, you have to invent work” punctures the fantasy that opportunity arrives on a clean schedule, like a gig offer sliding neatly into your inbox. Steve Lacy isn’t romanticizing hustle; he’s naming a structural truth about creative life: the default condition is silence, and waiting is just another way to disappear.
“Invent” is the loaded verb. It suggests agency, yes, but also fabrication in the theatrical sense - building a stage where none exists. For a jazz improviser like Lacy, invention is not merely careerist networking; it’s the whole method. Improvisation isn’t magic that descends; it’s the product of constructing constraints, practicing patterns, and then making something feel inevitable in real time. The line carries that same logic into livelihood: you compose the conditions that allow the work to find you.
The subtext is a rebuke to passive meritocracy. Talent doesn’t auto-convert into bookings, commissions, or recognition. Lacy came up in a scene where musicians often had to create their own ensembles, self-produce concerts, seek out residencies, tour relentlessly, or move across borders to find receptive audiences. That history sits behind the sentence like a bassline: institutions are unreliable, the market is fickle, and the artist’s job includes building the infrastructure that gatekeepers won’t.
It also smuggles in a psychological warning. “Work” here isn’t only paid labor; it’s purpose. Inventing work becomes a defense against stagnation - a way to stay in motion until the world catches up.
“Invent” is the loaded verb. It suggests agency, yes, but also fabrication in the theatrical sense - building a stage where none exists. For a jazz improviser like Lacy, invention is not merely careerist networking; it’s the whole method. Improvisation isn’t magic that descends; it’s the product of constructing constraints, practicing patterns, and then making something feel inevitable in real time. The line carries that same logic into livelihood: you compose the conditions that allow the work to find you.
The subtext is a rebuke to passive meritocracy. Talent doesn’t auto-convert into bookings, commissions, or recognition. Lacy came up in a scene where musicians often had to create their own ensembles, self-produce concerts, seek out residencies, tour relentlessly, or move across borders to find receptive audiences. That history sits behind the sentence like a bassline: institutions are unreliable, the market is fickle, and the artist’s job includes building the infrastructure that gatekeepers won’t.
It also smuggles in a psychological warning. “Work” here isn’t only paid labor; it’s purpose. Inventing work becomes a defense against stagnation - a way to stay in motion until the world catches up.
Quote Details
| Topic | Entrepreneur |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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