I heard the singer Maxwell discussing his 7-year hiatus from recording and performing. I was struck by his response about why he "disappeared" from the music scene, just as his career was at a high point. What I got from what he said is that he needed to live his life so he'd have something to write about. That, to me, is a profound understanding.Experience is the fertilizer if art is the seed. I imagine a conversation with Grandma Moses, who started her painting career while in her 70s, going something like this:
"Why is it that you started painting so very late, Ms. Moses?"
"Well, I imagine I had to experience the Beautiful World before I could paint it.."
I'm guessing Grandma Moses was always an artist, even before she picked up a paint brush. And when living is done well enough, new possibilities have room to become. A new word. A new brush stroke. A new note. A new dance step.I claimed myself a writer at the age of 12. And I remember what I wrote then as being very important to me. Only recently have I begun to understand the concept of "voice" as it relates to my own work. It is the product of experiences enjoyed and suffered, some seemingly insignificant, but each one building on the one before.
Kelly, this is a great post. I have been thinking a lot lately about the need to gain in experience in order to enhance and enrich my writing. I'm glad that I found your blog.
ReplyDeleteI articulate in my mind so many experiences but never write them. I even re-read them in my mind forgetting a little of the story each time until it is faded, fading gone. It is time to capture these voices. It is time to write. Thank you Kelley. Your writing is beautiful.
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