Open Your Mouth and Say the Thing. (273 Words)

ART/LIFE/PROCESS


I don’t normally talk about my work while I’m deep in process and wavering between firmly-rooted confidence and liminal doubt. One moment is, “this work needs to be in the world yesterday!” the next is, “wait, what is this? why am I doing this again?”

Confidence is often a practice that comes from repeatedly sharing your work and ideas despite doubts about readiness or worthiness. Confidence is a muscle that strengthens with the willingness to open your mouth and say the thing.

Truthfully, we are living in a world that cannot wait for you to earn your Master’s in Confidence. We are living in a world that needs your perspective, your half-baked genius, your spark, your inkling. There are many problems to solve. We solve them by sharing our inspiration, using our inspiration, in fact, to create a web that connects all of us through the things we all felt unworthy to bring forward.

The thing that has kept me writing and re-writing this piece has been the idea that my creativity is my highest contribution to the world. It is also a deeply personal radical act of defiance in the face of the dark side of humankind. I open my mouth to write/sing/move as the definitive declaration that I matter. That I am here. That I will not be ignored or rendered invisible. That my humanity is key to our survival as a species.

Everyone send good juju to this play, Sarah’s Salt. I’ll be sharing this again publicly after two years of gestation and formation this coming summer in New York City. Details to be announced in the Spring.

xx