It was hot. One hundred – something. The kind of heat where even ambition sweats.

I stepped onto the patio and saw Otis sprawled across the chair, Limp, slack, unresponsive. The posture of a creature that had clearly checked out of existence.

I froze.

“Otis?”

Nothing.

“Otis…”

Still nothing.

I bent down, preparing myself for the worst.

One eye opened. Unconcerned.
 
“Relax,” Otis said, “I’m not dead. I’m not moving.”

“I thought I lost you.” 

“That’s your problem,” he said, “You think movement is proof of life?”

Stunned into silence, grateful he was alive. 

“You think your creative process works the same way,” Otis yawned. “If you don’t see it moving, you assume it’s dead.”

He closed his eye. “Nothing’s Wrong. It’s just not time yet.”

Can We Help You?

Are you mistaking stillness in the creative process for failure?

Before you assume the work is dead, ask yourself a harder question: is nothing happening or is it simply not time yet?

If this hit close to home, share it with another creator who thinks their work has stalled, drop a comment with the moment you almost gave up too soon, and subscribe to Mack-n-Cheeze Music for more lessons from Otis on creativity, patience, and the strange rhythms of making things that matter.

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