"All art is quite useless." - Oscar Wilde.
In a way, I agree with this statement, and I believe it to be an important element of creating and/or consuming art. We're talking about a multi-billion dollar industry, yet art doesn't nourishes our bodies, doesn't heal us when we're sick (physically.) It does nothing to better the quality of our lives in any tangible way.
Over time, change occurs in our lives. Who we are, who our friends are, where we are. I have noticed recently that even though we have so much change in our lives as time ticks by, that doesn’t change everything. Some people from our past remain in our past because of negative memories we have of those people.
When we have friends who betray us, time does not always make us forget. The pain may go away, but the memories remain. Time does not change a loss of trust.
Also over time, good memories with good friends remain, despite the fact that we grow apart from those friends as our lives grow apart. It can be difficult adjusting to life without those good friends, but memories linger on.
Change is constant, and our memories help us to grow as individuals.
As writers, we sometimes run headfirst into brick walls (figuratively speaking, of course). Our hands tense up, minds go blank, and the thoughts just cannot flow from the pen to the page. We let our writer’s block get the best of us.
But what if we let this tension or lack of ideas continue? We “take a break” for too long? Those unwritten poems (or stories, blog posts, etc.) are writing us. We can’t let that happen. We are the ones with the pens in our hand (and our fingertips are on the keyboards); therefore, we are the ones in control.
Do you fellow writers have writer’s block? How do you overcome it? Any advice?
In the Midwestern United States, winter is in full swing: snow, freezing rain, and temperatures barely in the teens. Needless to say, I’m already dreaming about May flowers…or a vacation to someplace foreign and tropical.
If you could travel anywere right now, where would you go, and why?
As 2012 draws to a close, I, like the rest of the world, have been shocked by the increasing number of mass shootings in the United States. It is terrifying how violent people can be, and what human beings can do. The human mind is so complicated, and it’s impossible to understand how someone could commit so many evils.
I have to wonder what is going on in our world and society that makes it appear that people are steadily becoming more violent than they were in the past. What is wrong with our society? Is it the media, parenting, education, genetics?
What are your opinions?
Hi All,
I have not blogged in quite a while, but I finally decided to start again. I’ve missed it.
As a poet and a writer in general, I have an interest in reading as much literature as I can. Contemporary, classic, philisophical, nonfiction, biographies, anything that interests me. Currently, I have decided to read Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, and then Atlas Shrugged.
I have my particular interests when it comes to literature. I read what inspires me, and what will help me to become a better writer.
Now the question is: What are YOU reading? And what do you read for inspiration?
Poetry is a passion of mine (writing and reading). Dorothy Parker (poet) and Florence and the Machine (singer/musician) are two of my inspirations.
Interests include (though not limited to): Music (listening/discovering), psychology, philosophy, cultures, literature, current events...
Life is about making a positive impact in the world.
