Being a Vessel: Michael Jackson, Motown, and Trusting the Voice
Watching the Michael Jackson biopic this weekend left me thinking about one idea I can’t shake, the idea of being a vessel.
Someone who doesn’t just create, but channels. Someone who understands that what comes through them is bigger than them. That you don’t always need to explain it, you just have to trust it and follow it. Michael understood that. That he was given a platform to spread love, connection, and healing through music and dance. And he carried that, even with pressure most people will never understand.
It also made me think of Marvin Gaye, and how he talked about his work in a similar way, he states the What’s Going On album came through him, not from him.
A few months ago, I visited the Motown Museum in Detroit, and there was something surreal about being in the same rooms where so many legends created the music that shaped culture. The space itself is small, simple, just a house, a studio, a feeling. And yet, what was created there is anything but small. The talent had to come from something internal, something deeper. Something you can’t really explain or fake. Just raw gift, discipline, and intuition.
Creativity isn’t always something we “own” in the way we think we do. Sometimes it feels more like something we’re responsible for receiving, shaping, and releasing into the world.
And Motown shows that clearly. The music that came out of that house didn’t stay there, it spread everywhere and still impacts people today.
We all get ideas, feelings, and instincts we can’t always explain, but we feel pulled to act on them anyway. And when we do, we create things that end up living way beyond us. The books that stick with you. The movies you rewatch. The songs you always go back to. The food you crave. The moments someone created just because they listened to something quiet inside them.
So much of what we love exists because someone trusted that voice.
From Motown, to Marvin Gaye, to Michael Jackson’s music, it all came from people listening to what they felt called to do. And yeah, there’s a lot that comes with that. Pressure, sacrifice, responsibility. But even with that, I’m still grateful. Grateful they listened anyway. Because so much of what they made ended up becoming part of us.
Wrriten by Mailen Jonelle
Photography by Mailen Jonelle