Rohan Sings to us Every Morning
Insider #140 with a note on vulnerability and a drawing at 4:30 in the morning.
Dear Insider,
This week’s meditation on time resonated with so many readers. Many of you left comments, and even more of you replied directly by email. It warms my heart to know that I am not alone in these thoughts and emotions. Perhaps that is the great gift of writing.
Writing, sharing, publishing, can feel like speaking into an abyss. No voice answers back. But sometimes you do hear something. And someone. And you finally unclench your fists, and sit down, and take a breath, relieved to not be completely alone.
Thank you for being here.
The SneakyArt (Insider) Post is the special edition for paid subscribers and patrons. Every Sunday, deeper thoughts from my journey as an artist, writer, and parent.
For many years, I thought success - or, the likelihood of hearing back from the abyss - depended only on writing skill. If there was no response, I had to just do better. After succeeding a few times and failing many more at the roulette wheel of social media, I began to think it was just dumb luck. If it does not work, keep trying.
But now I think it is neither of those.
True success may lie in defeating your ego, your consciousness of self, your shame, and all the other things that tell you to hide yourself.
I stopped writing the novel for which I quit my academic life, because beyond a point it was impossible to continue without being completely naked to the world. Deep inside, I was terrified. At surface level, I called it writer’s block.
But every day, line by line, page by page, drawing is helping me let go of my self. Because art is all truth and lines of ink can never lie. They are another way to be completely naked to the world. But in an important non-verbal manner that seems to make all the difference.
(Words are so messy, just look at this mess I made.)
Little Rohan practices his singing everyday. But so far, we are unable to decide on the appropriate times for such things.
Thank you for being here for the words and the lines. I hope they add value to your inbox.
Related:
To notice your environment, and observe its changing lights, shadows, shapes, and colours, is a way to pack more information into every passing second. A way to enrich your time and your day, and your week, and your year, and your life. - 231. A Drawing is Not a Moment in Time
Social media offers simple numbers to measure achievement - likes, retweets, and follower counts. Your job is to take the number up. How far up? Always higher. Higher than today. Much higher than yesterday. Faster. Higher and higher, faster and faster. Endlessly. None of this makes sense. - Insider #103: Prison Break
Since becoming a big Instagram account, the spectre of countless, faceless other people hangs heavy over my head. What do they want from me? What should I give them? Will they like this? Will they judge that? And, how can I get more of them to follow me? - Insider #102: The Panopticon of Social Media