divine dissatisfaction

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, nor 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 have to believe in yourself or your work. You do 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, ever, at any time. There is only a queer, divine, dissatisfaction; a blessed unrest that keeps us marching, and makes us more alive than others.

- Letter from Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille


Note to nameless daughter: Whatever dissatisfaction or resistance you feel, it is important to yeald rather to the urge to do and create.