The Power of Going Extreme: Creative Discipline Lessons from St. Vincent (Plus a Surprising Teaching Revelation)
The Power of "Nun Mode"
While watching St. Vincent's masterclass, she shared something fascinating about creative discipline. When she was writing her album Masseduction, she spent six months in what she calls "Nun Mode" - essentially a creative silo where she completely eliminated distractions and focused solely on writing music. No social activities, drinking, no external noise, just pure creative work.
Her approach taught her two powerful principles:
Non-Judgmental Creating
Remove the pressure of "making hits"
Focus on the process, not the outcome
Record everything - you never know what might work
Dedicated Creation Time
Set aside specific, uninterrupted creation periods
Allow yourself to step away to find those "passive creative moments"
Capture ALL the random ideas, no matter how small
Teaching to Learn
My cousin made a New Year's resolution to learn guitar and asked me to teach him.
I was excited to help because he and his wife would pay me by watching my kids periodically so my wife and I could get out for some date nights. Perfect trade!!!
Last week, I started teaching my cousin guitar. Something unexpected happened: teaching a beginner forced me to confront my own technical gaps. He wants to learn using a pick - a technique I've avoided and never properly mastered. Now, as I prepare to teach him proper pick technique, I'm actually filling in my own foundational weaknesses.
It's funny how teaching beginners can expose the basics we've either forgotten or skipped entirely. By viewing guitar through a teacher's lens, I'm not just helping him learn - I'm becoming a stronger player myself.
Why This Matters for Musicians
These two experiences - St. Vincent's monk-like dedication and my unexpected learning through teaching - point to something crucial: Musical growth isn't always about moving forward. Sometimes it's about:
Creating space for focused work (Nun Mode)
Returning to basics with fresh eyes
Being humble enough to learn while teaching
🧠 Quote of the week
"To teach is to learn twice." — Joseph Joubert
❤️ Favorite Thing This Week
With the intention of getting more done this year and tackling my goals, I turned my phone into a dumb phone.
Why? During the holiday break, I spent an average of 6 hours per day on my phone. This was largely from watching YouTube videos and reading book summaries on the Short Form platform, but still, that level of connection with my phone also meant large chunks of time scrolling Instagram and looking for something to keep me entertained on YouTube. No good! So one of my goals for the first quarter of this year is to minimize my phone usage, turning it back into a tool rather than an all-day source of entertainment.
This video from creator Reysu will show you how you can do it too if you're interested.
Enjoy your week,
Melvin Darrell
