How The Monkees ruined America

At the end of the opening theme to the old Monkees TV show there's a line that goes "we're the young generation and we've got something to say..." The Monkees never did tell us exactly what they had to say but it didn't stop them from saying it (or saying something) on their TV show week after week. It's a sensibility that's rubbed off on us today. We believe we have something to say and we should go about saying it, singing it, painting it, or blogging it. Only maybe we shouldn't.

Our society doesn't place a great deal of stock in waiting. But maybe it would be a good thing to wait once in a while. And maybe it would be a good idea to wait for a few months or a few years before making a movie, waiting until one really has something to say.

I guess it sounds like I'm saying that we should all sit around in creative hibernation until something worthwhile bubbles to the surface. That's probably not a bad idea. But another way of thinking about it is to go about one's work, being aware of whether one is exploring, trying to figure something out or really saying something.