archives

Where to begin? A familiar question, no doubt. Whether you're the kind of person who has hundreds of ideas stalking her day and night, or the sort occasionally accosted by tantalizing visions, the manifesto offers a bit of Cage advice:

9. Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.

Follow this advice any time you find creative urges trapped inside thoughts like, "I'd really like to [insert unmanifested idea here] but I don't know where to start." For example:

• Writing a song about tweed jackets (or whiskey, Darfur, baboons, etc.)
• Recording that brilliant Latvian-Irish fusion dance tune
• Forging a meaningful bridge for a song about rivers
• Publishing a ballad about the disappearance of old-growth forest
• Choosing the right songs for an indie eight-track concept album
• Learning to play the ocarina solo from Wild Thing on an iPhone

Beware the trap of not applying this advice because you're not sure where to start. See how sneaky this is? Begin beginning now. Anywhere!