See what comes to you in the silence...

[I'm stealing an idea from Austin Kleon's essential weekly newsletter again, but I think that he'd approve.]

I am a huge fan of Michaela Coel, the incredible actress/director/screenwriter who's been receiving some hard-earned notoriety for her newest HBO series, I May Destroy You. One of the few shows I don't regret binge-watching after randomly stumbling across it on Netflix is her forehead-slap-inducing comedy Chewing Gum (you can ask me off-line about my regrets...). She's incredibly adept at creating (through her own acting as well as great casting) characters who are hyperbolic and supremely realistic and relatable.

At the Emmy Awards last weekend she provided a transcendent (and short) acceptance speech that provides even more inspiration:

“Write the tale that scares you. That makes you feel uncertain. That isn’t comfortable. I dare you. In a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others to help us better determine how we feel about ourselves, and to in turn feel the need to be constantly visible — for visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success — don’t be afraid to disappear from it, from us, for a while and see what comes to you in the silence.”

There is a LOT to take away from that short paragraph, especially after watching I May Destroy You, but focus on the suggestion she makes in the final sentence: Disappear. See what comes to you in silence.

Musicians(/people/everybody): Stop. There's a Zen mantra that goes, "Sit, sit. Walk, walk. Don't wobble." If you've been doing the "walk" part, now sit. Give yourself time for silence (from social visibility, from media, from collaboration) so you can wait for what comes to you. Making time for yourself to do this means cutting out something else (maybe gigs! maybe Netflix!), but if it scares you you should try it. Do your own thing and don't care about the results.