The linchpin is the cornerstone of a project, the responsibility taker, the one we would miss if she were gone. The artist is almost certainly a linchpin, but I’m adding another dimension here—it turns out that expending emotional labor, working without a map, and driving in the dark involve confronting fear and living with the pain of vulnerability. The artist comes to a détente with these emotions and, instead of fighting with them, dances with them.
