We Are The Songwriters

The urge to create can feel like a struggle sometimes. Throw in feelings of isolation and hopelessness brought on by living through a global pandemic and trying to make something to put out into the world can seem impossible some days.

I recently discovered Nick Cave's The Red Hand Files via Austin Kleon's newsletter. I spent a few hours reading through a dozen or so posts. It gave me a real rush of emotion that I think I needed. The questions submitted through the site and his answers to them are heartbreaking, hilarious, and inspiring.

I found the answer to this one called "What do you do when the lyrics just aren’t coming?" very comforting in a lot of ways. This last line at the end put a lump in my throat.

We are all of these things — we are the songwriters.

If you do anything creative for fun, or for a living—and I tend to think lots of folks fall into at least one of those categories—I'd highly recommend giving it a read.