In the second line of the Hebrew Bible, before light, before land, before anything with a respectable shape, the world is described as tohu v’bohu. Depending on the translation, this primordial state is rendered as “formless and void,” “empty and waste,” “invisible and unformed,” or, more poetically, "chaos with a pulse."

Which is to say: The universe began as a mess.

On my podcast, Fifty Words for Snow, where my cohost Emily Garcés and I hunt for words English forgot to invent, we recently talked with philosopher Peter Rollins about this ancient phrase and immediately felt its modern relevance. Because tohu v’bohu is not just a theological curiosity. It is the emotional landscape of anyone who has ever opened a blank document and thought, “I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.”

In creative culture, we sometimes call this phase the “sh*t draft.” Get it all down, we’re told. Don’t judge it yet. Allow it to be terrible. You can fix it later. This advice is practical, but emotionally bleak. It frames the beginning of creation as........

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