The musician’s deck of cards contains random phrases that help provide a new perspective when he’s stuck.
Jess Shankleman
When Roxy Music was making its second album in 1972, synth player Brian Eno found the stress of the recording studio stifled his creativity. “In the pressure situation, you tend to fall back on the old solutions,” he says. “You don’t want to take the risk of going down a road that doesn't pay off at all. And then you get stuck, because you’re not excited.”
To calm his nerves and remind himself that mistakes can open up new opportunities, Eno picked up a notecard and jotted down “honour thy error as a hidden intention.” Over the next few months, he wrote a dozen more cards with gnomic suggestions such as “trust in the you of now” and “decorate, decorate.”
