Most people associate being a rock star with doing a pretty epic amount of partying. But, as anyone who’s lived that life can tell you, while drinking may be a symptom of the line of work, it doesn’t actually help the work itself one bit.
This was the key realization that musician Emily Wolfe had. For most artists, creating work comes from the urge to release something that’s going on inside you. But for Emily, alcohol would take the place of that. Drinking would wipe away all those inhibitions she was grappling with—eliminating the drive to creatively express herself through her work in the process. Her drinking was, in her words, “a black hole.”
After a particularly scary incident when her drinking led to some pretty intense seizures, Emily realized enough was enough. So with the help of rehab and her girlfriend, Brittany, she got sober.
It would be great to say that, with her life cleaned up, Emily’s work immediately improved. But that wasn’t the case. For about half a year, she experienced a crippling writer’s block that was eating her alive.
But Emily persevered, and eventually, the fog lifted. Today she is creating her greatest work to date—to the point that she’s literally trying to create a new genre of music. Instead of being fueled by alcohol, her work is now rooted in her existential realization that, while actual immortality is impossible, the mark we leave on people while we’re here is how we can endure. “My ultimate dream would be to leave a legacy,” she says. “I want to live forever, and to be known for adding something good to people’s lives.”
From the looks of it—and the sound—it seems like she’s definitely on the right track.
For more on Emily Wolfe’s journey out of the darkness, and onto the road toward greatness, be sure to watch the latest installment of Uncharted in the video above, presented by Honda.
