Divine Dissatisfaction

Today's blog is for anyone who has birthed a dream or shepherded a labor of love. 

In October 2014, I produced a show, Inheritance: Maiden, Mother, Crone. As the Production Manager it was my role to bring the seeds of a vision into creation with a team of incredible women. There is nothing so bitter sweet as witnessing your creation come to life. It is a "queer divine dissatisfaction" and a "blessed unrest."

As we sewed finishing touches on costumes, rehearsed for the billionth time, and question each individual breath we took throughout our pieces, we drew on the inspiration of great women who have preceded us like Martha Graham and Virginia Stewart. 

Today I want to share two of my favorite quotes from these women, and offer their words to anyone in the fire of creation. 

We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigor, the mystery, the humor, the variety, and the wonder of life.  - Virginia Stewart

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And 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 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 yourself open and aware 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 the others.
- Martha Graham, The Blessed Unrest