“ The day that Waits finally took control of his own creative anxiety was one in which he was driving down the eight lane freeway in LA when suddenly a melody came into his head. Because he was driving he had no pen or paper, no recorder, no way of capturing this tiny, beautiful bit of music that had magically appeared. His frustration and disappointment at his inability to capture the music brought to the fore the kind of artistic insecurities we all go through from time to time. But then, all of a sudden, he looked up at the sky and said ‘Excuse me. Can you not see that I’m driving? If you’re serious about wanting to exist then I spend eight hours a day in the studio. You’re welcome to come and visit me when I’m sitting at my piano. Otherwise, leave me alone and go bother Leonard Cohen’.
- Elizabeth Gilbert, speaking about Tom Waits
Quote tagged as: creativity tom_waits elizabeth_gilbert
