--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wrote so much about fandom and…" description: "\"I wrote so much about fandom and participation for NPR that I eventually realized my most fertile way of participating in music is to actually play it,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/carrie-brownstein-1580_fertile_i-wrote-so-much-about-fandom-and-partici_1781754.png" --- # I wrote so much about fandom and participation for NPR… ![“I wrote so much about fandom and participation for NPR that I eventually realized my most fertile way of participating in music is to actually play it, at least in a way that made the most sense to me.” quote by Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/carrie-brownstein-1580_fertile_i-wrote-so-much-about-fandom-and-partici_1781754.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/carrie-brownstein-1580_fertile_i-wrote-so-much-about-fandom-and-partici_1781754.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/carrie-brownstein-1580_fertile_i-wrote-so-much-about-fandom-and-partici_1781754.png) > “I wrote so much about fandom and participation for NPR that I eventually realized my most fertile way of participating in music is to actually play it, at least in a way that made the most sense to me.” [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author realized that actively making music is the most authentic way to engage with it, beyond analysis or fandom. **In simple terms:** Playing music is the best participation. Key Takeaway Engage directly with your passion. Themes creativity participation authenticity music Mood inspirational practical Type motivational educational When to use this quote - learning an instrument - collaborating in bands - creating original work Key Concepts experiential learning self‑expression Questions to Reflect On - What barriers prevent you from creating? - How can you integrate practice into daily life? A Different Perspective Not everyone can access instruments or time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Participation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/participation/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) ## Related quotes > [What is normally called religion is what I would tend to call music - participating in music, listening to music, making records and singing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/what-is-normally-called-religion-is-what-i-would-tend-to-call-music/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [When we treat music as an industrial commodity, and young people as merely consumers, we overlook the joy of participating in music... of learning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-hucknall/when-we-treat-music-as-an-industrial-commodity-and-young-people-as/) [Mick Hucknall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-hucknall/) > [It was writing about music for NPR - connecting with music fans and experiencing a sense of community - that made me want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/it-was-writing-about-music-for-npr-connecting-with-music-fans-and/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [The only way to condition for basketball is to actually play basketball.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jrue-holiday/the-only-way-to-condition-for-basketball-is-to-actually-play/) [Jrue Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jrue-holiday/) > [Mums and dads, if you've bought something that needs putting together, do it before Christmas. When the kids have gone to bed, do a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-schofield/mums-and-dads-if-you-ve-bought-something-that-needs-putting-together/) [Phillip Schofield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-schofield/) > [I've always wanted to play a superhero. It was just about figuring out which one I could actually play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joivan-wade/i-ve-always-wanted-to-play-a-superhero-it-was-just-about-figuring-out/) [Joivan Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joivan-wade/) > [There's always going to be a percentage of the kids out there who want to hear people who can actually play and sing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/butch-trucks/there-s-always-going-to-be-a-percentage-of-the-kids-out-there-who/) [Butch Trucks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/butch-trucks/) > [So I suppose that means we can actually play the instruments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-copeland/so-i-suppose-that-means-we-can-actually-play-the-instruments/) [Stewart Copeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-copeland/) > [You could have people who actually play basketball, but they probably don't love it. I actually love it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ja-morant/you-could-have-people-who-actually-play-basketball-but-they-probably/) [Ja Morant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ja-morant/) > [I've done as much as I could and as hard as I've worked to try to be ready, but we'll never know until I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davis-webb/i-ve-done-as-much-as-i-could-and-as-hard-as-i-ve-worked-to-try-to-be/) [Davis Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/davis-webb/) > [But more than that, I wanted my wife and my family to see how I can actually play this game. They haven't seen me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-duval/but-more-than-that-i-wanted-my-wife-and-my-family-to-see-how-i-can/) [David Duval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-duval/) > [I don't listen to music, actually. Obviously I go to clubs; I stand in elevators; a lot of my friends are musicians; I hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-kills/i-don-t-listen-to-music-actually-obviously-i-go-to-clubs-i-stand-in/) [Natalia Kills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-kills/) > [I loved our music discussion. I live for discussions like that. It's my favorite thing because it means that people care about music, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-armisen/i-loved-our-music-discussion-i-live-for-discussions-like-that-it-s-my/) [Fred Armisen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-armisen/) > [A study found that music can actually relieve emotional & some physical pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-study-found-that-music-can-actually-relieve-emotional-some-physical/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Do you know people who insist they like 'all kinds of music'? That actually means they like no kinds of music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/do-you-know-people-who-insist-they-like-all-kinds-of-music-that/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) ## More by Carrie Brownstein > [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [Much of the music I remember from camp was unofficial: the songs a counselor would play for us on acoustic guitar or that an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/much-of-the-music-i-remember-from-camp-was-unofficial-the-songs-a/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [Rihanna has guts and she always seems to be singing from someplace honest, dark and fierce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/rihanna-has-guts-and-she-always-seems-to-be-singing-from-someplace/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [I think there's a lot of wonderful comics that leave you hanging in a state of apprehension or anxiety before alleviating that tension with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-think-there-s-a-lot-of-wonderful-comics-that-leave-you-hanging-in-a/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [Well, in some ways I had sort of the opposite experience of other people that are sort of dreaming of being in a rock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/well-in-some-ways-i-had-sort-of-the-opposite-experience-of-other/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [There was a clarity to the Nineties. It was pre-9/11, before that anxiety kicked in that exists right now about the financial crisis or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/there-was-a-clarity-to-the-nineties-it-was-pre-9-11-before-that/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [I think people would describe a lot of Sleater-Kinney as unsettling. And I don't think our best moments have sonic assonance to them. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-think-people-would-describe-a-lot-of-sleater-kinney-as-unsettling/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [I'm always trying to encourage people not to limit themselves in the same way that many of our parents stayed with one job forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-m-always-trying-to-encourage-people-not-to-limit-themselves-in-the/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [The game Rock Band has been haunting me like a bad ring tone. It gets stuck in my head and momentarily effaces all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/the-game-rock-band-has-been-haunting-me-like-a-bad-ring-tone-it-gets/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [I've mostly been focusing on writing, and I've really enjoyed not playing music. It will always be part of my life, but I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-ve-mostly-been-focusing-on-writing-and-i-ve-really-enjoyed-not/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [To me, curiosity is married to optimism. And that's where a lot of my motivation comes from. A lot of my way out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/to-me-curiosity-is-married-to-optimism-and-that-s-where-a-lot-of-my/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [ \[I hate\] the ways that people want their special needs to be met, whether it's their food allergies or their special lotions or shoes.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-hate-the-ways-that-people-want-their-special-needs-to-be-met/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [No matter what people are struggling with, or based on whatever. Sexuality, ethnicity, economic status, size. I don't wish smallness for anyone. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/no-matter-what-people-are-struggling-with-or-based-on-whatever/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [I would not call myself an optimist, even though I would aspire to be. I am innately a skeptic. There's kind of an incessant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-would-not-call-myself-an-optimist-even-though-i-would-aspire-to-be/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [I always find that nostalgia is sort of like memory without the pain. And that's why it feels so good to kind of bask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-always-find-that-nostalgia-is-sort-of-like-memory-without-the-pain/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Explore all 226 Carrie Brownstein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) ## More Fertile quotes > [Anytime I get the chance to sing or work with Michael John, it is such an incredibly fertile and incredibly creative and safe and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audra-mcdonald/anytime-i-get-the-chance-to-sing-or-work-with-michael-john-it-is-such/) [Audra McDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audra-mcdonald/) > [Louisville is a place with no labels. It’s not the South, it’s not Chicago, and you don’t think of it as you think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-james/louisville-is-a-place-with-no-labels-it-s-not-the-south-it-s-not/) [Jim James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-james/) > [Republican despotism is more fertile in acts of tyranny, because everyone has a hand in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/republican-despotism-is-more-fertile-in-acts-of-tyranny-because/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [Genius differs from talent not by the amount of original thoughts, but by making the latter fertile and by positioning them properly, in other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/genius-differs-from-talent-not-by-the-amount-of-original-thoughts-but/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [I think genetic research is a fascinating and fertile area.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/i-think-genetic-research-is-a-fascinating-and-fertile-area/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [Our bodies are garbage heaps: we collect experience, and from the decomposition of the thrown-out eggshells, spinach leaves, coffee grinds, and old steak bones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/our-bodies-are-garbage-heaps-we-collect-experience-and-from-the/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [In the Middle East, bread is so essential to everyday life that word for it in Egyptian Arabic is aish, which means life. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annia-ciezadlo/in-the-middle-east-bread-is-so-essential-to-everyday-life-that-word/) [Annia Ciezadlo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annia-ciezadlo/) > [“A fertile mind may still produce many weeds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/revel/a-fertile-mind-may-still-produce-many-weeds/) Revel > [Each new generation asks – What is the meaning of life? A more fertile way of putting the question would be – Why does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-wessel-zapffe/each-new-generation-asks-what-is-the-meaning-of-life-a-more-fertile/) [Peter Wessel Zapffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-wessel-zapffe/) > [Focusing upon the positive by counting your blessings, or using positive affirmations in the fertile time before you fall asleep is an invitation to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/focusing-upon-the-positive-by-counting-your-blessings-or-using/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, from the prison of past conditioning. Uncertainty is the fertile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/in-the-wisdom-of-uncertainty-lies-the-freedom-from-our-past-from-the/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [The crisis triggered a fertile period of scientific ferment and revolution in economic theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-tobin/the-crisis-triggered-a-fertile-period-of-scientific-ferment-and/) [James Tobin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-tobin/) > [Talent is like a seed which needs fertile soil. There is no less talent now, there is less fertile soil to nourish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-darby-bannard/talent-is-like-a-seed-which-needs-fertile-soil-there-is-no-less/) [Walter Darby Bannard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-darby-bannard/) > [Rumi is astounding, fertile, abundant, almost more an excitable library of poetry than a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/rumi-is-astounding-fertile-abundant-almost-more-an-excitable-library/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Who can justly measure the righteous influence of a mother's love? What enduring fruits result from the seeds of truth that a mother carefully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/who-can-justly-measure-the-righteous-influence-of-a-mother-s-love/) [Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/) Browse all 266 Fertile quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I wrote so much about fandom and participation for NPR that I eventually realized my most fertile way of participating in music is to actually play it, at least in a way that made the most sense to me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carrie Brownstein" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-wrote-so-much-about-fandom-and-participation-for-npr-that-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fertile" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-wrote-so-much-about-fandom-and-participation-for-npr-that-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/carrie-brownstein-1580_fertile_i-wrote-so-much-about-fandom-and-partici_1781754.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/carrie-brownstein-1580_fertile_i-wrote-so-much-about-fandom-and-partici_1781754.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/carrie-brownstein-1580_fertile_i-wrote-so-much-about-fandom-and-partici_1781754.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wrote so much about fandom and participation for NPR that I eventually realized my most fertile way of…” — Carrie Brownstein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Carrie Brownstein", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I wrote so much about fandom...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-wrote-so-much-about-fandom-and-participation-for-npr-that-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-wrote-so-much-about-fandom-and-participation-for-npr-that-i/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```