Somewhat tongue-in-check illustration to describe this week. Have had intriguing conversations and classes regarding media saturation, mental health and public safety. The husband of a former voice teacher knows my love of poetry and shared this with me yesterday. It sums up my philosophy quite eloquently.
(Chinese symbol for 'individual'.)
It Is I Who Must Begin
~Vaclav Havel
It is I who must begin.
Once I begin,
once I try--
here and now,
right where I am,
not excusing myself
by saying things
would be easier elsewhere,
without grand speeches and
ostentatious gestures,
but all the more persistently
to live in harmony
with the "voice of Being," as I
understand it within myself
as soon as I begin that,
I suddenly discover,
to my surprise, that
I am neither the only one,
nor the first,
nor the most important one
to have set out
upon that road.
Whether all is really lost
or not depends entirely on
whether or not I am lost.
Oddly enough, this poem twins well with another Piercy:
ReplyDeleteFor the young who want to
By Marge Piercy
Talent is what they say
you have after the novel
is published and favorably
reviewed. Beforehand what
you have is a tedious
delusion, a hobby like knitting.
Work is what you have done
after the play is produced
and the audience claps.
Before that friends keep asking
when you are planning to go
out and get a job.
Genius is what they know you
had after the third volume
of remarkable poems. Earlier
they accuse you of withdrawing,
ask why you don’t have a baby,
call you a bum.
The reason people want M.F.A.’s,
take workshops with fancy names
when all you can really
learn is a few techniques,
typing instructions and some-
body else’s mannerisms
is that every artist lacks
a license to hang on the wall
like your optician, your vet
proving you may be a clumsy sadist
whose fillings fall into the stew
but you’re certified a dentist.
The real writer is one
who really writes. Talent
is an invention like phlogiston
after the fact of fire.
Work is its own cure. You have to
like it better than being loved.
Here's to finding the map and one's work.
ReplyDeleteLaurie, your "It's all about me," is the opposite of how so many people think today - you are making it about taking responsibility for your life - your talent, your work, your contribution to the world, your health as far as you can, etc. - rather than ignoring "unintended consequences" and/or expecting someone to rescue you! Like the poems. Here's to you, my niece!
ReplyDelete