"There seems to be no one on the empty mountain…
And yet I think I hear a voice,
Where sunlight, entering a grove,
Shines back to me from the green moss."
Wang Wei, trans. Bynner
A Letter to Agnes DeMille : Martha Graham
There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening
that is translated through you into action,
and because there is only one of you in all time,
that expression is unique.
If you block it,
it will never exist through any other medium
and it will be lost.
The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine how good it is;
nor how valuable it is;
nor how it compares with other expressions.
It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly,
to keep the channel open.
You do not even have to/ believe in yourself or your work.
You have to keep open and aware directly
of the urges that motivate you.
Keep the channel open.
No artist is pleased.
There is no satisfaction whatever at any time.
There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction;
a blessed unrest that keeps us marching
and makes us more alive than the others.
