#13 Jon Russell: Make Space to Think & Feel, Follow Your Obvious
Jon Russell
Welcome to blog post #13 of The Insightful Creative.
Jon Russell, a clarinetist and composer, grew up surrounded by music. He began playing the clarinet at age nine and found “his people” at music camp, where he saw other kids composing their own music. Inspired, he thought, “This is something I could try too.” Early on, he was captivated by the primal power of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and later, Eric Dolphy inspired him to gravitate toward the bass clarinet. Recently, he founded Improbable Beasts, a Boston-based bass clarinet ensemble with a mission to share the deep resonances, soaring lyricism, and propulsive grooves of bass clarinet music with as many people as possible. As both a performer and composer, Jon shared some of the guiding principles behind his creative work.
“It’s important for artists to create space to think and feel,” Jon emphasizes. “So much in the modern world conspires against us making that space, urging us to stay ‘busy’ and ‘productive’ while also giving us endless distractions, like social media. We have to be active and intentional about creating that space to think and feel!”
This idea of making intentional space aligns closely with the message in Oliver Burkeman’s book 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, which Jon references during our talk. Burkeman reframes time not as a resource to optimize but as a finite gift—about 4,000 weeks in an average human life. Recognizing this limited time, Burkeman argues, is essential to focusing on what truly matters. Instead of filling every moment with productivity, he encourages embracing these limits and creating space for deeper experiences, much like Jon’s commitment to making room for thought and feeling in his creative work.
Jon sees this intentional space as a foundation for alignment with his own personal values, something Pippa Evans, author of Improv Your Life, calls “following your obvious.” Evans encourages pursuing what feels instinctive or natural rather than forcing creativity in unfamiliar directions. These “obvious” choices often connect us to our strengths, interests, and personal truths. “You’re actually more likely to create something original and unique,” Jon says, “if you do what seems obvious to you, rather than trying too hard to be original.”
Reflecting on the unpredictability of audience reception, Jon adds, “It’s hard to know what the audience wants. They may or may not like it, or you might not even like it.” Ultimately, he believes, “You’re better off creating what you want.”
Jon with Improbable Beasts
