After Watching the Bruce Lee 'Be Like Water' Documentary Twice
I’ve watched the Bruce Lee documentary twice since it debuted on ESPN the other night. Lee’s thoughts on martial arts and life made me reflect on what I believe about writing and life, subjects that have been very much on my mind during the lockdown.
If anyone else could write it you shouldn’t. You don’t wanna be a writer of the obvious. You want to be a writer who writes what only you can. That’s the goal. There’s no point in aspiring to the mundane or the predictable. Your “voice” is really just how you see the world and how you interpret what you see. Whether you are a poet, playwright, stand up comedian, a screenwriter, MC or novelist, when you put pen to paper (or finger smart phone) your goal should not be consensus, but a deeply individual statement. The only way to separate yourself from the pack is to forgo formulas (or subvert them), avoid safe assumptions (or destroy them), and resist slavishly following doctrines or political philosophies. Your only value to the world is being as much you as you can stand.
This is not easy to achieve. You will stumble. You risk deemed being “too idiosyncratic,” “limited,” “old fashioned,” “trendy,” “out of touch” or “irrelevant.” At any given moment you may be any or all of those things. This path may get in the way of a big payday. It could make you unpopular. It could get you ignored. But, if you’re patient or stubborn or just can’t help yourself, your refined point of view will deliver that most profound and elusive thing — personal satisfaction. Every time you write with verve, passion and confidence you’re winning. The truest victory you can enjoy is creation of the new.