it’s time. album two needs to be written. the first published work is often written over many years or decades before there is a public persona + an audience to receive it. with the second work there’s less time + more expectations.
towards the end of my fall tour for album one, i decided i need to start searching for a theme to wrap my writing around for album two. i journaled + brainstormed on themes. i wrongly thought i need to do loads of reading + exploring at the library to find this theme. i was mentally putting together a stack of books by some of my north stars. women like: patti smith • simone weil • sylvia plath • georgia o’keefe • zaha hadid • elizabeth gilbert • virginia woolfe • simone de beauvoir • yayoi kusama
the more i think about it, the more i am reminded of this lesson i’ve learned many times, in life + in art : planning a concrete structure before making stuff gives me stiff results. jumping into the unknown, making that first + second + tenth stroke without a plan opens me up in a different chamber of the universe that buzzes differently than the creative space i’ve boxed myself in. there’s good foreign power there. the milk is richer. i have to tell my controlling self to go away so i can start making FIRST, and trust that the theme will reveal itself later. TABULA RASA :: FRESH SLATE. but wait do i even need a theme? whatever. we can worry about that later. fresh slate. fresh slate.
the romantic grain in me still wants a stack of books by these women around. not to use as a launching point anymore, but to dip into from time to time and REVEL IN THE SOFTNESS OF THEIR HARD-HITTING MINDS. for bonus courage. to keep opening the door to the unknown everyday, for a bowl of rich milk.