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Dec 19, 2023Liked by Emma Clarke

A few years ago I learned the word sprezza​tu​ra (studied nonchalance : graceful conduct or performance without apparent effort). Whenever you see someone who "makes it look easy", that's sprezzatrura. and it's a thing to marvel, not scoff, at.

When I was leaving my college radio station I offered to teach the next production director how I did promos. He said, in essence, "Well, you can do it and it looks easy so, no thanks, I got it". I took a long breath, let that hang in the air, and said "good luck" and graduated the next week. The next fall after only a couple weeks I got a request from this person through a friend of mine still at uni to OH PLEASE GOD HELP ME, which I had to politely decline.

It says more about the other person's position on curiosity and creativity than it does on your skills (which are multitudinous and formidable) when they scoff.

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