The Letter

'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, this expression is unique. If you block it, It will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is; Not 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 to 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 others.'

- Martha Graham -in a letter to Agnes DeMille


I found this while blog surfing... I thought how relevant it was and very much like a comment I made to my art tutor when I was doing a mature age study stint years ago...

It also seems to be a consistant theme, expressed one way or another, which runs through the many blogs which I read... Creative expression which every way that the 'channel' wants to express it drive the individual onward... And I can understand partly, when it is not translated into some physical medium, why the 'channel' becomes despondant...

I have read the passage many times since finding it and each time gleaned a little more understanding from it...