Writing—or any creative endeavor—to some extent is a leap of faith and a huge personal risk: Faith that what you have to offer others will be worth the time it takes to read your work and will add something of value to their lives.
Your character Tamara gets it right, Deborah. And so do you. That’s what I think anyway. Even when we read, we are developing the inner life. As Vonnegut used to say, Making art is soul-growing work.” What could be more valuable than that?
Thank you, Debbie. I’ve been asking myself whether to burn the manuscript or go on and publish it for others to read. Like you, we writers dive into the collective unconscious or the well of being, and hope we hear the morning stars singing. But we also want to express our own song. Ordinary life and what made it my one precious life in the midst of all this. This brief time we live and will I share my song or keep it to myself or let my memory fade away…dust to dust.
Deborah, the citations from your story recall a quote attributed to Federico Fellini: “I think that one must trust the images that come to you, the visions that haunt you. They are the substance of your imagination, and they are more real than reality itself” (from an interview where Fellini discusses how his films often stem from dreamlike visions, prioritizing the imaginative over the literal).
Your character Tamara gets it right, Deborah. And so do you. That’s what I think anyway. Even when we read, we are developing the inner life. As Vonnegut used to say, Making art is soul-growing work.” What could be more valuable than that?
Yes, soul-growing work. I love that! Thanks, Andrew.
'Joy wants sharing.' Amen. It's important to do so. Misery may like company, but I prefer joy.
I chose joy too! Thanks, James.
Thank you, Debbie. I’ve been asking myself whether to burn the manuscript or go on and publish it for others to read. Like you, we writers dive into the collective unconscious or the well of being, and hope we hear the morning stars singing. But we also want to express our own song. Ordinary life and what made it my one precious life in the midst of all this. This brief time we live and will I share my song or keep it to myself or let my memory fade away…dust to dust.
Thanks for helping me decide, Deborah.
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I'm so happy you decided to share your song, Barbara! Our one precious life is worth singing about.
Deborah, the citations from your story recall a quote attributed to Federico Fellini: “I think that one must trust the images that come to you, the visions that haunt you. They are the substance of your imagination, and they are more real than reality itself” (from an interview where Fellini discusses how his films often stem from dreamlike visions, prioritizing the imaginative over the literal).
Love that quote! Thanks so much for sharing, Victoria.