Some Thoughts on Writing and Art
I really think of myself as more of a reader and absorber than a writer or creator. And maybe this frees me from being tethered to any ambition or competitiveness. I mean, I strive to write poems that speak to the truth and complexities of this life, but I am a little detached from the Importance of the endeavor. Why am I writing? I'm not sure, except I feel compelled to communicate. I can't remember a time when I wasn't talking, rapidly filling the space around me with inquiry and fascinated by the multitude of answers. I was never encouraged to be this way, but I couldn't help it. So now I'm just writing really for myself and seeing where it takes me, even if it's only to better footing with my own life, which actually would be a momentous accomplishment.
Who reads nowadays anyway? I feel that way a lot. There's a tinge of futility around everything now, isn't there? There are so many people out there creating these vulnerable, marvelous works of art whose power would be immense if only everyone could be open to it. Instead, we're glued to the latest scandal or contrived beef between disparate parties, these false and distracting melodramas that hide the true, vital and profound tensions in today's society. Or we're just too busy. Will we as a society ever be moved by poetry or art again?
Art has not solved the world's problems. Neither has religion. Nor scholarship. Nor democracy. Nor war and its varied and lengthy resolutions. Nor independence. Nor anything we've ever done so far.
But I like to remind myself that in other periods of human history, I would not have given the power of language and audience. That for so long the stories and visions portrayed in art and literature belonged to a small subset of humans for whom dominance was a preeminent preoccupation. And we've just gradually begun to correct that imbalance. And so we're seeing everything, always, through this distorted lens. Not everyone will be willing to open their eyes to this. That cannot be helped. I think I write not to illuminate the world, but to put myself in there, to lay claim to the space that many would have denied me. Thus, ultimately, writing is an act of defiance. Not against those with whom I have disagreements, but against the banality of an unexamined life and worldview.
And if I ever have an audience for this, then bonus!
Who reads nowadays anyway? I feel that way a lot. There's a tinge of futility around everything now, isn't there? There are so many people out there creating these vulnerable, marvelous works of art whose power would be immense if only everyone could be open to it. Instead, we're glued to the latest scandal or contrived beef between disparate parties, these false and distracting melodramas that hide the true, vital and profound tensions in today's society. Or we're just too busy. Will we as a society ever be moved by poetry or art again?
Art has not solved the world's problems. Neither has religion. Nor scholarship. Nor democracy. Nor war and its varied and lengthy resolutions. Nor independence. Nor anything we've ever done so far.
But I like to remind myself that in other periods of human history, I would not have given the power of language and audience. That for so long the stories and visions portrayed in art and literature belonged to a small subset of humans for whom dominance was a preeminent preoccupation. And we've just gradually begun to correct that imbalance. And so we're seeing everything, always, through this distorted lens. Not everyone will be willing to open their eyes to this. That cannot be helped. I think I write not to illuminate the world, but to put myself in there, to lay claim to the space that many would have denied me. Thus, ultimately, writing is an act of defiance. Not against those with whom I have disagreements, but against the banality of an unexamined life and worldview.
And if I ever have an audience for this, then bonus!
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