✍️ Don’t Wait for Permission. Just Do the Work.

and, My Last Post from This Era of “To Write with Wild Abandon”

Glenn Gould statue in Toronto. There is room on the bench for all of us.

I’ve talked about Rick Rubin before.

He and I seem to think in the same way. Not that I’m trying to compare myself to him. Just… an observation. In fact, this post is in part about that fact that we can’t and shouldn’t compare ourselves to anyone else.

In the video below, Rubin says (I’m paraphrasing): Creativity is not some magical or divine gift bestowed from on high. It’s a flash within us – if we can just get out of our own damn way.

He said:

“[The thing that holds people back the most from being their most creative and best self] is being concerned what other people think.. You don’t have to wait for permission from someone else to make your art.”

-Rick Rubin

He goes on to say that Bob Dylan can’t be a better Ramones than the Ramones, just like the Ramones can’t be a better Bob Dylan than Bob Dylan. The implication, of course, is that there’s room on the bench for all of us. But, it doesn’t just happen; we have to do the work.

“We all have a set of experiences that form who we are, and my solution to a problem has to do with my life experiences, and your solution to a problem has to do with your life experiences.”

-Rick Rubin

This is all stuff I’ve said before. But they are still issues I see writers struggling with every day. I wish there were some sort of silver bullet to get rid of our Mr. Hydes, who are out to stymie our every writing attempt. If permission, comparisons, and/or getting in your own way are things you feel you struggle with, I truly hope that the video below will help you take a major leap in a positive direction! It’s a timely reminder that I needed right now.

I’m going to leave you with one last thought before you scroll down to the video below:

The next time you sit down to write – or do anything creative – why not try to be the best “you” you can be? I can tell you for a fact that nobody does it better.

Until next time*, keep writing with wild abandon!

~Graham

*PS – big announcement coming next week. If I were a YouTuber, I’d say something like, “This Changes EVERYTHING!!!”

But I’m not. So I’ll simply say, I’m taking a big, important step with my Substack newsletter that maybe I should have done a long time ago… I’m excited to share it with you next week!

email me if you get lost.