Following Instructions

I was in the U.K. recently, first in Edinburgh, and then in London, where on a slow-moving Saturday afternoon, I decided to go to the Tate Modern to see its Yoko Ono exhibit which was in its final twenty-four hours. I realize Yoko Ono isn't everyone's cup of tea for a variety of reasons, but I wanted to see if I could understand her and her work a little better if I went to this retrospective.

Here's what I will say:

Part of the show incorporated simple typewritten instructions, which some might think don't belong in a museum of this stature. But when I realized that I was engaging with these little slips of paper – imagining what it might mean to send someone the smell of a moon, or look like to paint a canvas with your dinner leftovers, or to paint a picture with seeds (what kind of seeds? Flower? Cucumber?) in the wind – I saw that Yoko Ono, Beatles disrupter, was showing us we all have the ability to create if we let ourselves. Yes, some of the instructions might have been objectively out there. However, if you let go of what people might think, or whether you will do or say the wrong thing, or whether people will like the end result, you're already steps ahead of people stymied by fear or this sense that they aren't creative or have nothing to say.

I think that's why I post weekly prompts. Yes, this is a writer's newsletter, and writing prompts can help you get things down on the page, which is half the battle. But they can also spark other ideas that may lead to something if you just let yourself play. So I guess that's the biggest takeaway I have from Yoko, and I hope you noodle with something that has captured your imagination or made you think "well, that's a silly idea" sometime soon. You don't have to knit leftover spaghetti into a shawl (Yoko didn't come up with that prompt. I did.), but maybe there's something else you've been thinking about and some little voice inside of you is trying to convince you that it won't work. Tell that voice to zip it and go have yourself a good creative frolic. If you do it, and you like where it leads, reach out and let me know what you came up with when you allowed your right brain do its sassy old thing.

Writing prompt: How do you define weird? Is that definition based on what other people in your life say or have said? Why or why not? Were you raised to fear weird, or embrace it? Why? Have you ever leaned into weirdness to see where it lead or how it felt like? Where did it lead and how did it feel?

Owning the fall

Meanwhile at the V&A, there was a wonderful exhibit "Naomi In Fashion" which looked at supermodel Naomi Campbell's career. Campbell, who had aspired to be a dancer like her mother, was discovered by a modeling agent when she was just 15 years old. Her striking looks and flair for performance – multiple friends and colleagues have hailed her iconic catwalk strut – landed her multiple high-profile modeling jobs with John Galliano, Gianni Versace, Karl Lagerfeld, and the man she called "Papa", Azzedine Alaia. But there was a moment in 1993 when she made news for tumbling on the catwalk in enormous Vivienne Westwood heels. Rather than be horrified, Naomi owned the moment, smiling as she got back up and then back to work. When you consider her life, her loves, her career, and all the gorgeous frocks she has worn that were on display, it was striking to see her tumble included in this homage with a mannequin dressed in the same exact outfit and posed in the same exact way that Naomi was when she had originally hit the deck. The point is: Naomi got back up, time and time again, and not just on the catwalk. She is human just like the rest of us, and I loved that the V&A captured that humanity and celebrated it instead of leaning hard into her supermodel mystique.

"That fall is part of me, so I own the fall," she said. "It's okay. People make mistakes. The most important thing for me is just getting up and doing it again."

May we all honor and celebrate our own tumbles, and not let them get in the way of getting back up and doing it again too.

"Naomi In Fashion" is on display at the V&A until April 6, 2025. If you manage to make it to London before that date, be sure to check it out.

Added bonus: Naomi curated a playlist of her favorite songs from throughout her career. You're going to want to this out, so click here to get her ultimate catwalk mix.

Endnotes

What I'm writing: I had a reeeeally fun and lively conversation with Elysze Held, the veteran stylist and dear friend of the late, great Iris Apfel. My profile of Held ran in this month's Aventura Magazine, and you can read it by clicking here.

What I'm watching: The documentary "Radical Wolfe." It's the first film to explore the writer Tom Wolfe's life and work, which included fictional and nonfictional stories about hippies, real estate magnates, race car drivers, astronauts and more. No matter the topic, he always found a way to get at the heart of what was happening in American life, whether readers liked it or not.

What I'm looking forward to: Seeing Jane Goodall's talk at the Fox Theater next week. Also? Seeing "Usher: Rendezvous in Paris" because I need something to tide me over until I can get to the rescheduled concert on December 9.

Where I hope you'll donate this week: Another week. Another school shooting. This one was less than forty miles from my house. Please consider a donation to Moms Demand Action, a grassroots movement of Americans who want to protect people from gun violence. Because enough has been enough for a really long time...