In a recent edition of Liner Notes Insider, I shared Eli Lev's insight about songwriting as processing rather than producing—a shift that removes the "will they like this" pressure and connects you to authentic creative work. Processing can help you create work based on genuine experience instead of manufacturing content for an imagined audience.

But processing your experience raises another question: which experiences are worth processing? Not all struggle creates good art or builds sustainable careers. Some difficulty deepens your work. Some depletes you.

During my conversation with Eli, I asked him a couple of questions I'd been sitting with:

His answer revealed the difference between meaningful difficulty and random suffering—and how conscious choice can transform struggle from burden into identity.

When Struggle Becomes Identity

Eli played 250 shows in 2024 across the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe. When I asked about the challenges, he was candid about the isolation—eight hours a day alone in the car, the performance highs and ensuing isolation. Relationships that were virtual by necessity needed to be reestablished in person. Routines dissolved, and new ones had to be formed. The transition from constant stimulation to ordinary life created real psychological strain.

My friend George Brandau, after reading about the interview, sent me an email about a recent gig on a Santa Cruz beach. He'd driven hours, spent significant time on setup, and realized he was making less than minimum wage for the evening. Then the full moon rose, the crowd started dancing, and a lighthouse beacon swept across the water.

George wrote of his reflection in that moment, "You're a lucky motherf—er." He continued: "I guess that's what it all boils down to with all of us crazy artists. 'The pain we are willing to endure.' The pain I will endure to go do it again."

Eli tours internationally. George plays local and regional shows when he's not working in his hair salon business. Their realities are notably different, but they've both made the same fundamental choice: to accept the specific pain their version of music-making requires.

The Reframe: From Suffering to Journey

When I asked Eli about pain and struggle, his response cut through the romantic narrative of a suffering artist. He said he's consciously moved away from the language of suffering:

He reframed 250 shows from "struggle I must endure" to "part of the journey I've chosen." Not denial—he acknowledged the very real challenges. But he refused to let those challenges become suffering:

This distinction matters. Growth happens at what Eli calls 'the edge of discomfort.' Conversely, destructive pain can result when you push past your limits into damage.

Processing, as defined in Part 1 of this series, can help you distinguish the difference. When you're working through your experience honestly rather than performing for an audience, you can feel whether struggle is serving your development or just grinding you down.

Eli found support through Backline, an organization providing mental health resources for musicians. He worked with a therapist who helped him navigate touring transitions and identify when isolation was shifting from challenging to harmful. That's the key: meaningful difficulty should stretch you, not snap you.

When Eli describes his touring challenges, he's not romanticizing or denying them. He's recognizing that he chose this specific form of difficulty because it serves the transformation he's working toward.

George's "lucky motherf—er" moment reveals the same shift. After laying out the difficult math—hours of driving, minimum wage, physical labor—he didn't say "but it was worth it." He said he was lucky to have that struggle.

His word choice of "lucky" instead of “worth it” is a different lens entirely.

"Worth it" implies a transaction: pain exchanged for reward, suffering you tolerate to get something else. But "lucky" means you've chosen this specific form of difficulty because it's your difficulty. The pain isn't separate from the reward—it's part of the identity you've claimed.

Many (if not most) creative people start with "I have to do this to succeed." That framing makes every challenge feel like suffering you must endure. But when you shift to "I choose this pain because it's part of who I want to be," the same challenges become expressions of identity rather than obstacles to it.

Your Turn: Choosing Your Pain

Not every difficulty deserves your commitment. Some struggles don't serve your growth—they drain you. Three questions can help you tell the difference:

1. Does this pain serve my growth or drain me?
2. Am I choosing this, or am I defaulting to it?
3. What transformation justifies this difficulty?

The three questions above will help you start evaluating your struggles—but knowing which questions to ask is different from understanding how to answer them.

Liner Notes Insider subscribers get the complete framework: how to distinguish growth-pain from destructive-pain, George's full beach gig story and what it reveals about creative identity, warning signs that struggle has crossed into harm, and the connection between processing (from Part 1) and chosen struggle.

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Robonzo

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Resources & Recommended Reading

​Backline.care​

​Processing vs. Producing: The Creative Shift That Changes Everything (Part 1 of this series)​

​Eli Lev – Spiritual Growth: From 250 Shows to Finding Sacred Space in Music (Episode 332)​

​George Brandau on Connecting People, Benefit Shows, and Chrome Deluxe (Episode 22)​

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