I wrote what follows during the thick of quarantine when everything about life felt unknown and terrifying. Every social media platform, news channel, and communal outlet was in one way or another referencing Covid-19. During the pandemic our world was trying to manage, the murder of George Floyd sparked an insanely fast circulation of the significance of the Black Lives Matter movement. I remember feeling anxious and lost, wondering how life could have taken such a turn for the worse.
Though I can breathe now without anxiety taking control of every nerve ending in my body, what I wrote in early June is something I think is worth sharing, so without further ado...
Each player in this game serves a purpose that’s vital to the story. Without even one character, we feel a void, but even more so, we are not able to advance. We don’t navigate through life on our own. We are forced to rely upon the talents and expertise of those around us to help in every facet of life. It is the nature of how our society works. You need food? You go to the grocery store where someone has stocked the shelves and aisles with what you need to nourish your body. You need gas for your car? You drive to a gas station where someone has made sure each pump has sufficient supplies to fill up your tank. You need medicine for an infection? You see a doctor who will prescribe you an antibiotic to nurse you back to health. Look around you. Whether you are in your own home, on a train running through the city, or at an outdoor track working out, the hands of at least thousands of people have assisted in assembling whatever setting you’re in. We are never too far removed from the people who are the reason behind why we are afforded to live the lives we do. It is a humbling thought, so I thank the people I will never meet but am grateful for.
With such a wide range of jobs available in the market (not currently but normally), we see hubs of different skills essential for different positions. Someone who installs pipes has a skillset pertinent to plumbing. A person who delivers packages to homes and buildings has a skillset pertinent to postal service. A chef who works in a restaurant has a skillset pertinent to cooking.
Some people are born with innate talents to perform their jobs while others foster skills that are utilized in their field of choice. However you make your money is your decision and should never be scrutinized simply because all jobs are necessary for the normal function of life. For those who work in the arts and who have an audience of people to entertain, there is an immense void right now that is very apparent and speaking volumes.
The conscious absence of one’s art is significant. There is power behind a vocalist who pauses while singing, a dancer who stands still on stage, an artist who omits color from a piece of work, a writer who says nothing. The empty space intentionally left in between art intensifies the appreciation of it. If you’ve ever watched a performance where a dancer stands completely still on stage, you understand how much attention you as the viewer are giving that moment. You are waiting on the slight movement of any body part and practically holding your breath wondering when she will and how she will move next. It is captivating and makes every movement thereafter that much grander.
We may never embody the full experience of a performance if we constantly are bombarded with movement. That absence strengthens our appreciation for what our eyes see and our ears hear.
As a writer, I am constantly saturated with content. I could look at a leaf on the sidewalk and have an entire story flood my brain about that single leaf before I even fully pass it. Sometimes I think it is my life’s greatest gift, but it is also a constant struggle to sift through the meager material I create and pick out the noteworthy. What scares me the most, though, is not me knowing I have the potential to look at a single leaf and create a novel about it. It is me passing said leaf and not a single thought popping into my head.
When there are no lyrics, no movements, no color, no words to flesh out one’s passion, we must take the absence of art and use it to reflect differently. The intentional omission of art is done on every artist’s account. The inability to produce what normally oozes out of an artist is chilling.
Above all else, the scariest thing in the world has been knowing every player in the game feels the same inability to serve—for life to come to a complete standstill on a worldwide stage. No one in the audience anticipates another move because viewers and performers alike have only one thing left to do: pause.
Comments