High notes

And finishing what you started / Issue 1,091

The dog’s gonna bark.

They’re going to start tearing up the street outside your window the second you sit down to work.

You might not have slept enough last night.

Your schedule might look a little too squeezed today.

But you do have time. And you do have space.

The day can’t end on a high note if you get bogged down by what you can’t control. 

Find a little bit of what you can control, as imperfect as it might be.

That’s the high note.

That’s the one you’re gonna sing today.

If you’re having trouble finding the finish line:

“So, it was a very stressful year for me. I got this feeling I lost it. I was writing a lot, but I didn’t get anywhere and suddenly I said, ‘It’s not that I didn’t get anywhere. I didn’t get to finish the songs because I needed this communication.’ Communication is like a rope that you tense from both ends and you have to pull and somebody has to pull in the other direction. If you pull alone, you just take the rope with yourself and you don’t get that tense cable that transmits information back and forth. It was only when I started to get together with other people, some colleagues, and friends that started to come to the studio, that I was able to think that I could finish what I was writing.”

Musician (and former physician) Jorge Drexler via The Creative Independent

Today I’m Thinking About…

The rehearsal scene in Mike Leigh’s film Topsy-Turvy, which might be one of the greatest moments I’ve ever witnessed on film. Have you ever seen this film about Gilbert & Sullivan? Ooh, it’s about creative process!! Kara catnip! Here’s a good analysis from the Criterion Collection:

“Despite how deeply set Gilbert is in his ways, what I get from watching this scene is the joy of people creating things. Leigh allows us to experience this by playing the scene out to its fullest extent. That’s characteristic of Topsy-Turvy, which is a film intent on breathing at all costs. It’s as though Leigh is turning over every possible stone. Without giving way to excess, he allows scenes to feel long and rich and generous, while never outstaying their welcome.”

Long and rich and generous scenes! Something to reach for. You can watch the eight-minute scene here on your breakfast/lunch/coffee break.