Source Material

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players”
-from the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare

“Everything’s copy.” -Nora Ephron

“Each of us has a container within. It is constantly being filled with data. It holds the sum total of our thoughts, feelings, dreams, and experiences in the world. Let’s call this the vessel. Information does not enter the vessel directly, like rain filling into a barrel. It is filtered in a unique way for each of us…One can think of the creative act as taking the sum of our vessel’s contents as potential material, selecting for elements that seem useful or significant in the moment, and representing them. This is Source drawn through us and made into books, movies, buildings, paintings, meals, businesses–whatever projects we embark on. If we choose to share what we make, our work can recirculate and become source material for others.” -Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way Of Being

One of the many wonderful things about being an artist is that all of life becomes source material.

Whatever happens to you, good or bad, allow for the source and when you’re ready, use it to make your art. Know that by doing do, you’re helping others and potentially giving them their own source material.

Just like grace, it’s a beautiful and infinite loop.