Not Doing
They say that those who can’t do, teach,
which I interpret as denigrating.
But yesterday, over a cup of coffee,
Bradley (the student) asked me (the sage)
how to extract something out of a blank page, and
I told him that I didn’t know, but that the goal
(which I have heard from teachers who have done)
is to show up — every day — and wait.
I have “done” exactly that for hours now,
and it feels like failure which — I hear —
is life’s greatest teacher.
So perhaps there is something to that saying, after all.
But don’t get me wrong:
not doing is a hard thing to do.
👆 Day No. 05 of Austin Kleon's 30 Day "Practice and Suck Less" Challenge.
This afternoon’s exercise was inspired by a Coffee Date conversation I had the privilege of enjoying with Bradley yesterday, and a whole lot of practicing to suck less at showing up today.
If you decide you’d like to see something beyond practice-pieces, check out The Fraction Club — a patron-based community of folks who support my creative work in exchange for exclusive writing, performance, commentary, interaction and more — or my book, It’s All Worth Living For.