Sometimes, not explaining is the most powerful thing.
The creative case for keeping it to yourself.
More often than not, our default mechanism when asked certain questions is to explain; maybe to avoid the awkward silence? Sometimes even sharing more than we were meant to, or giving answers to things we could’ve honestly kept for ourselves.
Justifying art, explaining to people about certain ideas and projects we are working on (we are not going to get into the not sharing for bad luck - this is not the conversation here today) but rather consciously knowing that not everything needs an explanation, and like Pusha T said “Everything don’t need to be addressed.”
When we fall into explaining, we are practically devaluing our own opinions and the gut instincts we spent years developing; and on top of that, we become prone to being swayed by others and their projections of themselves, which might pull us away from the direction we already painted in our heads. So practically, by not choosing when to explain and when to stay silent (for a lack of better terms) we traded our dream for a different version; maybe even the wishlist version of it.
And now, five minutes later, or even in the shower that night when you get back home; after everything you’ve done that day, between the Equinox workout, the Westside Highway run, or whatever makes you move - when that shower turns on, you are inevitably revisiting that TED Talk you gave the world, and rethinking whether you should’ve kept it to yourself after all. Just make sure you pick the right tunes before you step in; this one should be out loud, unlike those thoughts…
And just like in those books where someone is off to find a medicine to help the sick princess, we are on the quest to find the medicine to our princess (figuratively - unless you are a sculptor).
So we start researching the topic. Are.na maybe, for the hopes of stumbling across those 10–13 words in that old font, with grain over it to make it more dramatic? Or going on YouTube and trying to find the solution there (impossible, btw).
Scorching the internet and not finding the answer, only to realize that the answer is deep inside; and we need to ask ourselves: why do we feel the need to share everything with everyone and explain every single thing? Is it approval-seeking? Or do we not trust ourselves enough, so we reach for outside opinions to fill that gap? Not a single self-proclaimed guru can hand you those answers - so until we search deep inside ourselves, we will keep running into the same wall.
Flip it. No more explaining. Doing your thing how you imagined it, free to go with the wind; limitless, perhaps. Countless people throughout history have done exactly that, and maybe it’s time we look back into the past for once, to move forward into a better creative future.
Personally, do you think Caravaggio or Da Vinci had to explain themselves? Better yet, Marc Jacobs didn’t have to explain the grunge collection before it existed. If he had to justify it first, we wouldn’t have it - and arguably, we wouldn’t have him at LV in ‘97 creating the RTW for the house. Can you imagine that? Shoutout Marc, man.
Dilla with the drunk drums! didn’t have to explain it. Ye with 808s! didn’t have to explain it. Do you see the pattern yet? Not explaining everything can only lead to better results creatively.
Truthfully, the only person you owe an explanation to is yourself; and nobody else. Try that for a week, and see where your creative projects take you. Maybe to a far, far land…
The Mercer Edition Is An Independent Publication.
Absolutely love this. As someone who used to over explain since really living in alignment with myself I realise no explanation is required. Sometimes silence speaks louder than words. Sometimes you have to leave room for the other person to speak first.
When you live with a pure heart, intentions and with clarity of who you are… you never have a reason to feel an explanation is necessary. 🙏🏽🥹