The Desert of Arizona
Cloudy 68 Degrees 5:12 a.m.
As a young musician, with a head full of “rules to follow,” Claude Debussy’s (pronounced DEB-you-see) famous quote was a bit over my head.
He said: “Music is the space between the notes.”
As I grew up, practiced and developed my musical “voice,” I eventually realized the power of the white space… of silence… of doing nothing.
Mr. Debussy was right, of course. The real music does happen “between the notes.”
Our world is obsessed with DOING. In fact, we are told that’s how you become successful.
Clearly, that’s a load of B.S. How do you feel when you’re “busy” all week long?
Not exactly energizing right? And even though a lot of energy gets used, progress doesn’t always come with it.
While work is virtuous and DOES lead to success, “busy” is not success and has nothing to do with success.
What’s more, the fuller your mind is with the “notes of the music” from your day, the less music you allow to happen.
For me, being busy is an excuse. It’s an easy and ever available distraction so we don’t have to face the real stuff. Maybe the real stuff is just sitting there alone. A lot of people have trouble with that.
If you want Incomparable Expert status, if you want to start hearing the voice that’s inside you telling you what unique value you have to express to the world, it begins with allowing “space between the notes.”
Stop allowing busy. Stop tolerating it all together. You cannot rehabilitate it, it is not a temporary condition. And it certainly is not something you have to endure to get to X. You never get to X because “busy” never ends. It is a trap.
Choose a better path.