I’m Taking A Break

According to Laura Belgray, who writes the “only newsletter anyone opens anymore,” we “get tied in knots about providing value.” She reminded me that “entertainment might be the greatest form of value. There is a reason it’s called ‘entertainment value.’” All those months pounding myself, wondering what the heck is my value to those big-budget corps and event planners. Drove me to pull the plug on trying to solve somebody’s big, expensive problem and go get a job so I could stop a moment and think. Maybe I could just do that and tell stories, work on my one-man show, A NIGHT YOU WON’T REMEMBER — AND NOT BECAUSE YOU CAN’T. Or something else entirely. What?

Now that I’m a full time working man, it dawned on me that when I come home in the evening, there’s nothing I have to do. No need to save the world, practice my keynote, write a story, do standup, shoot photos. Nothing. I can go outside and fire up one of the Webers. Or make spaghetti. Watch TV with Penny. Go to bed early. Sit in the dark and imagine things. Totally up to me. I kind of have to force myself to do that. A voice in my head screams “what about Madison Square Garden?” How am I supposed to ever sell out the Garden if all I do is sit around and do nothing? We stagnate at our creative pursuits if we don’t practice.

I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos lately. About BBQ. Hot chocolate. Cameras. Lenses.

Sold my Leicas*. Suddenly, the camera is less important than the conversation. And a more capable yet perhaps less inspirational camera might get out of my way better.

What about the harmonica? I vowed a while back to finally learn the chromatic. But it’s kind of dropped by the wayside. Today, I picked it up and started to learn Wichita Lineman, which is not all that difficult on a chromatic. Made me feel like I’m practicing my creative pursuits. The song itself is gorgeous and simple, and perhaps unfinished, according to the man who wrote it, Jimmy Webb. It’s got one of the most beautiful lines in all of lyricdom: “and I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time.” Jimmy said he might have taken out that line, had he finished the song. Good thing he didn’t finish.

There’s a video on YouTube about the importance of being bored from time to time. I didn’t watch it, but I agree with the premise. I’ve been bored a lot lately, not feeling like I want to do anything, so I don’t. And what I’ve noticed is that boredom slows down time. I don’t want time to always rush by. If being bored stretches the day, I’m all for it. Is that boring to you?

Let’s see. I practiced my harmonica and wrote a few words. That’s about all I’ve got today. Maybe I’ll go make some hot chocolate.

*one of them. The other one’s still on eBay as of November 19.