Move Offensively
The Super Bowl got me thinking about how to be a creative.
Ive taken a few weeks off to think about how I wanted to approach Substack going forward. I had thoughts of restarting it and making it more health and less home, or more this and more that. But that’s the not the point. The point is more of more. More of me. Which I shall deliver.
Which brings me to the biggest news of my week. The Super Bowl. My hometown team winning the big game (Go Birds!). And that Pulitzer-Prize worthy halftime performance by Kendrick Lamar.
Kendrick Lamar performs at Super Bowl LIX while his dancers form the American flag around him. photo by AP Images.
In front of 133 million viewers, including our current president, the performance was a rapid fire, Easter-egg filled art piece, social commentary, Drake takedown (diss? that was a full on execution!) and a direct hit against the anti-inclusionary policies of the current administration. Sam Jackson as Uncle Sam. Statements like “40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music.” A stage set up like a Sony Playstation. And this zinger: "They tried to rig the game, but you can't fake influence.”
The commentary lit up the internet this week, drowning out headlines about the executive orders and White House foolishness (something we all needed a small reprieve from for a moment). Conservatives got their panties in a bunch over its blackity blackness, even complaining that his team of all black performers and dancers (including tennis champ/Drake’s ex-girlfriend Serena Williams) had no white people. (Chad, that was the POINT). Everyone else who knew even one line of a Kendrick song knew exactly what was going down. They knew as soon as Sam Jackson welcomed the crowd with "Salutations, it's your Uncle Sam, and this is the great American game.
The thing that I love most about this performance is that it was so direct. So intentional. It was not ‘in response’ to something (alright, maybe to Drake’s lawsuit, but IMHO Kendrick won that Drake beef when “They Not Like Us” first dropped), or crafted to satisfy a particular demographic. Instead, Kendrick used his platform to create and inspire a message, not just a singalong. The critics that claim they didn’t get it must’ve turned off the show to take a 20 minute long bathroom break because there was no way you could miss the message. Love it or hate it, we’re all talking about it days later, and will likely be studying it for years to come.
My therapist and I were talking about the show yesterday, and I came up with this idea of how ‘offensive’ it was. Not offensive, as it offended people. But offense as in first move. Aggressive. As in, not defensive. In football, when you’re on offense, you have the ball. The only time you can score is when you’re on offense. Scoring is the key to winning.
Great artist move on offense. They innovate. They make first moves. They present something that hasn’t been presented before with no fear and no cares about critique. It’s these type of moves that often result in the biggest impact. Their most notable work. And perhaps, their best work.
I thought about my own work and my own life. How could I be more offensive? I’m offensive when it comes to child rearing—making sure my daughter has the tools and opportunities to be as intelligent and creative as possible. I thought about how often I had been offensive in my career, scoring better jobs, higher paying roles, more visible platforms. I think about how I can be more offensive in my ideas and my work now. How can I create work that I see as being most impactful? Most representative of me? Unrestricted or greenlit by anyone, created for the sole purpose of sharing my POV? Or—here’s a radial thought—making the world better?
How can we all move more offensively? If you want to lose weight or get healthy, must we wait for a doctor to tell us that our blood pressure is out of wack or our risk for a heart attack is high to do so? If you want to switch careers, are you waiting for permission from a boss or our friends to do so? Why, are they paying your bills? Are they wiping your tears when you cry in frustration after each soul-sucking Teams meeting for your current job?
Go Birds!
It’s gonna be my goal to be as offensive as the Philadelphia Eagles in that stellar Super Bowl triumph against the Kansas City Chiefs. First mover, not waiting for permission. Attacking life is what’s going to move the needle forward in your life, in your career. Kendrick just gave all of us creatives permission to share what moves us, and share it with our whole chest. Let’s get it.
First move? Aggressively attacking this Substack content going forward. What are you all liking and reading on Substack? I’m curious! Share your fave feeds in the comments soI can read and learn, too!