Hi friend,
My partner Jon Batiste won an Oscar on Sunday, for the score of the Pixar film Soul, and it was an overwhelming delight and surprise. It’s also something I saw coming two decades ago.
I got my first glimpse the very first summer Jon and I met, back at band camp when we were teenagers. Jon had only been playing the piano for two or three years, but his performance at the end-of-camp recital was so powerfully beautiful that the audience gave him a standing ovation—which was not a common occurrence at the end-of-camp recital. In his acceptance speech on Sunday, Jon spoke of the twelve notes that God gave to Duke Ellington, and Bach, and Nina Simone. Even back then, it was clear to all of us that the divine had given those twelve notes to Jon Batiste too.
Something else I’ve appreciated about Jon since that first summer is how he integrates every part of the human experience, even the ones most of us feel we need to polish or hide. Jon’s not afraid to attempt something new and fail; he’s not afraid to do things others might find strange, things that break unspoken rules or social norms. He revels in the failures, in the flops, in the awkward moments. It’s what makes him so extraordinary and magical—he’s so free.
A lot of this was the subject of our Studio Visit back in August. Jon was my first guest, and we spent an hour sharing stories of the failures that came before the successes. If you’d like to glean his insights, we have a video replay available for paid subscribers. You can find it, along with the rest of our Studio Visits, here.
Today, in honor of Jon, we’re resharing his prompt from last April, along with this gloriously awkward video—of him playing the very same piano where he finished recording the score of Soul.
Bursting with pride for my beloved,
Suleika
The Glorious Awkwardness by Jon Batiste
As a human being on Planet Earth I’ve experienced my fair share of awkwardness. (Maybe more than most). I have learned to love these moments, for in discomfort, valuable epiphanies are often found. Also, in retrospect, they can generate great laughter. Ah, the Glorious Awkwardness!
Your prompt for today:
Reflect on a particular moment in your past when you felt most in touch with your “Glorious Awkwardness.” It could be a cringe-worthy moment you’ve replayed a thousand times in your mind, or something essential and unchangeable about who you are.
Go back there. What did you learn from it? Can you laugh about it? And if not, why?