April 20 | Play What You Hear

In all domains of art and expression, we love our complexity.

We love our complex theories: not just for the insider language and apparent mastery, but to get the sense that someone somewhere has developed a system that completely envelopes a complex world.

We love our complex methods. The tried and true, practiced-until-perfected ways and movements we drill over and over again, dragging something that once seemed impossible into the ordinary world.

We love our complicated verbiage. The $5 words and obscure terms, not just because they make us feel important, but out of a love of exactness—stating something precisely as it is.

Of course, when it comes to actually expressing ourselves, all of those things fall just a little short.

They may even come in the way.

Ultimately, all we can do is look at the world as it is and see not just what is but what our internal instincts know could be.

You listen, then respond. You play what you hear. Reacting to the presence or absence of something.

Then let everyone else figure out what to call it later.… Read the rest