Stealing is Believing

        Thank you Jim Jarmusch for articulating such a critical message to the world. Anyone who has experienced the pressure of creating knows that feeling of, "I need to be original. My work has to be new, shocking, and surprise people. I have to stand out." Most of the time that leads to nowhere. Especially for me, I feel that when I sense that stress to do something that nobody has ever done before, I end up focusing more on that then getting inspired and actually creating something worthwhile. Inspiration is what it is all about. People create artwork for a reason, and if you just pass it by and say well that has been done before I can't use it, then you are making that artwork meaningless and losing its sole purpose. Life is so beautiful because everyone sees the world in a different light, and the more you see life through others eyes, the more you understand and know. 

     
       I sometimes wish everyone would open their eyes and really see what lies before them. If time stopped, would this be more realistic? Would people stop and take the hour to watch a foreign film that spikes an new interest, an unfamiliar feeling? Yet, saying this and pointing fingers is easy. I know that I should be taking my own advice. Step out from the narrow blinders of my perspective and really see the world, take in what others have crafted and use it, keep it alive, and let it take you somewhere you never thought you could go. 

Let's Be Honest for Once

Honesty is the best policy and if anyone knows that, it’s Baxter. He really just says it how it is and I really appreciate that, especially in a world like today when everyone feels so fake. The way he spoke about wisdom shocked me at first. I felt that he was only being negative and pessimistic and it was just him venting and ranting on about something to make himself feel better. Yet as I kept on reading, I started agreeing with him. What I realized is that unlike everyone else in the world he isn’t doing what he is doing for the sake of society, but rather just for himself. He isn’t following the rules or guidelines of appropriateness so that he doesn’t offend anyone. Instead he just speaking about the way he sees it. And that honesty is what made the biggest impact on me in his article, “Full of It”. One of my favorite parts is right at the beginning when he says , “My trouble is that I don’t really believe in most wisdom: not in this letter to you, not my own wisdom, not anybody’s. As you must know by now, most “wisdom” is not wisdom. It’s pernicious attitudinizing bullshit.” He is pretty much just calling everyone out on being phony. I got a little lost in what he saying as he spoke about being a fiction writer, but then I got it when he spoke about being an early writer, and discussed kind of how naïve and excited and blinded young writers are. That is how I felt as an early dancer as well, and I think it applies to all art and rather all life. Yet, it is necessary in order to really kick off your passion, making all of those mistakes in the fog of your hunger. All in all, Baxter’s article was really interesting and honest, and I appreciated what he had to say.

Just, Wow

 

I sat at my computer watching this painting unfold, completely entranced by this man's work. I hope you all appreciate it as much as I did!

Encouraging advice for my writer's block

If I had a couple of 3X5s taped around my desk to get me motivated and help me write, this is what they would say:

"For me, writing is exploration; and most of the time, 
I'm surprised where the journey takes me."


-Jack Dann

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
 

-Albert Einstein


"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader. 
Not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon."


-E.L. Doctorow

Open your eyes

Raymond Carver's article, "Principles of a story", sparked a lot of fresh thoughts for me, opening my eyes to new ways of approaching writing. For me, writing has always been structural and planned out, kind of like building a house. From the beginning I was taught that there was one way to write well and this was the formula and that was that. In his article though, Carver completely dispels this way of thinking and technique of writing. The way he explained how everyone has a completely distinct voice that should be focused and drawn upon instead of masked behind the voice of a “great writer”.  After reading a famous or wonderful story, I often find myself thinking about how I should write more like them. Yet, that is completely backward. Instead, I should recognize their powerful voices and then go searching for my personal voice and really own it. As Carver says, “It is the writer’s particular and unmistakable signature on everything he writes. It is his world and no other. This is one of the things that distinguishes one writer from another. Not talent. There’s plenty of that around.” 

This world that he points out also resonated with me. I just love how he talks about a writer having his or her own world. It just seems to be an endless source of imagination, hope, wonder, and full of possibilities. Just thinking about this got me excited! Yet, with so many opportunities ahead, it still is important be treat the work that you are focused on with great care. Carver discusses how he admires this way of approaching writing. He likes to look think about the idea that at the end of the day there are only words on the page left to go off of, and it is important to appreciate and acknowledge that. I think that this article really ignited a lot of ideas about how I am going to reconstruct the way I write, and I am thrilled to explore the new possibilities ahead of me!

True life: I am now a college writer

Dear My Young Writer Self,

I just thought that I would share a little advice with you about the horrific world of writing that awaits you in college! (Kidding, it really is not that terrible once you get the hang of it). First off, it is dire to understand that college writing is a whole other ball game. What I have picked up on is that college professors really want you to explore a specific topic and down into the very depths and finite details of the topic. They want you to pick it apart until there really is not anything else left. This may seem brutal right now, but once you get a good idea really rolling, it’s hard to stop. That would actually be my first advice to you. Just keep writing. I’ve recently noticed that this is one of my biggest strengths. I have the uncanny ability to just ramble on and on about one particular topic for hours on end. High school did not prepare you for this, but in college, doing a “sloppy copy” or horrible rough draft is utterly necessary for you to get at the topic you want to explore. So, do not be afraid to do that. 


Also, know that unfortunately most of you papers will be written in the wee hours of the night (or early morning on most occasions). Everyone will warn you from this, tell you how miserable and horrific of a process it becomes. While these folks are correct, know that sometimes the juices flow at the random hours of the night. Don’t stop yourself from going on a good rant of typing if you suddenly have a brilliant idea at 3am. The bottom line is to just go with your gut, and let it take you to places you have never been. That is the fun in college writing.

Sincerely,

Your Older- and oh so wiser- Self


P.S. Just in case you were wondering...this is what you will look like after a rough night of writing

Essay Ideas

For my comparative analysis, I have been thinking about comparing Ruth from Housekeeping  and Jenny from the short story "Lawns". At first these characters don't seem like they have anything it common at all. I mean,  Jenny comes across as your average college girl before we find out about her horrific past, while Ruth is much younger, living in a secluded, poor, and dark town during the 40's or early 50's (the exact time period is unclear). However, when you get past that and just strip the characters down and look at what is really there, you seem some similarities. 


Both Ruthie and Jenny have had traumatizing experiences in the past. They had no one to look up to or confide in their whole lives. In a way their parents abandoned them both. Even though Jenny parents never physically abandoned her, they neglected her and did not fill their roles as parents. With no one to look up to they had no idea what they were supposed to grow into, how they should behave, what is right and wrong. After Jenny experienced her father raping her, she was taught that it was okay to take advantage of people. Ruthie was taught it is okay to desert your family after her mom committed suicide, leaving her daughters under the care of her mother, and her aunts uprooted and never looked back. 


Having a strong upbringing is extremely important in the development of a child’s identity, and for these two characters, the lack of parental example and general neglect led to a corrupt identity. Due to the trauma of their past and the insecurities they face, both characters latch themselves on to another person in order to cope with their identity crisis. It is not until they separate from these people that they realize and understand their true identity. This is what I am currently exploring and want to delve more into: the relationships that formed and the dependency that they created in order to survive