Responding to my thoughts on being a musician and music as life in From The Air, Doug Miller writes:

"I envy Vlad that. My own compulsion doesn’t manifest itself in any artistic way. Indeed I find most artistic pursuits something that I can master technically given enough time and practice, but the outcome of which will always be inferior to the efforts of anyone who has that artistic “spark” that I almost completely lack. I admire artists greatly, but will never be one."

"I recognize the feeling Vlad has though, because it’s the feeling I get around organizing people and systems. Despite my best efforts I can not end up leading people, and I can not avoid creating organization. I always end up managing people and systems not because I necessarily want to, but because, like music for Vlad, it literally is who I am."

Doug, for the record, you're one of us. We're all one of us, and as you point out above, it all comes down to individual expression of the same urges.

What it takes to make a song is what it takes to manage an organization: knowledge, planning, perseverance. What it takes to create a great, emotionally resonant song is also what it takes to create an efficient, well-oiled and thriving organization: identification with the form you're working in as if it is yourself. The investment of self is what makes your creation breathe. It's the difference between bad art and good art, bad management and someone you'll do your best for. It's the "spark" of life.

Creation is a string of choices, a branching pattern of one foot in front of the other, each step further defining the pattern. Creation is organization from chaos, and the same decision tree forms the foundation of any process, all endeavors. At some level when we are creating, we all must use the same process, no matter the perceived difference in end objectives.

An artist is only different from a non-artist in one way... the non-artist has not yet realized their own areas of artistry.

Everyone is a rockstar in the making.