Discipline: The Art of Showing Up

Sanibonani, molweni nonke. Ngiyanibingelela ngegama likaJesu Krestu, my divine Creator.

This past week was rough… with an extra gruff on that R.

I came to appreciate what completing several degrees in music has taught me and cultivated within me:

discipline.

While reheating my food in the microwave, I was listening to the rotation of the plate. That mesmerizing sound quickly drifted me off into a land I often visit… daydreaming 🧠 about my acceptance speech for my Grammy, or imagining the staging I would love to have for one of my new singles coming out soon.

Then the ding of the microwave brings me back to reality.

And that reality is not some dismal place. It is where the actual work is taking place.

I grab my meal, head back to my desk, and continue practicing my art.

I HAVE TO FIND THE RIGHT EQ!

But it is here, in the seemingly mundane, where my artistry—your artistry—is being built.

And there is another aspect of the artist’s life that can feel mundane… the thing we know we should do, but sometimes hate doing:

practicing.

Yes, I am speaking to you, fellow graduate. We have worked so hard to get to a place where practicing can feel seemingly unnecessary.

But here is your friendly reminder:

GO PRACTICE.

The truth is that most of the artistic life is not visible.

It is practice (GO PRACTICE). It is writing and rewriting. It is returning to a passage, a phrase, a melody again and again and again and again. And most of the time, you are doing this alone.

With no audience and with no applause. Just you and the work.

This is where the real shaping happens.

The artist—that is you—is not shaped when applause sounds in grand arenas, or when you finally win that award that validates your hard work. It does not happen in the spotlight.

It happens in the slow patience of revision (GO PRACTICE!)

Discipline asks something different from you, artist. Show up in the everyday mundane moments, knowing that these small (and great) moments are shaping you.

And the work—the artform itself—is asking to be made.

All love,

Dr. Nkululeko Zungu