On the topic of writing, I found out something recently that was a bit of a surprise to me. These are rare after you pass 70 years, so I still savour it, though it comes from mid-to-late last year.
At the time, I was a regular time waster on Facebook and just investigating Substack. I was also writing a rare blog. The great revelation to me was that because I am a writer, however self-described, I MUST write! And I was scratching my itch on the pages of Facebook.
Once that reality came into my head, I realized I had to get away from Facebook because all the hours of writing I was doing there was being thrown into a bottomless pit of mediocrity. It was a textual conversation where everybody talked at once, and no one listened. Though I had scratched my itch, I had said nothing others listened to. Why was I writing?
I have thrown away my membership to Facebook. I have begun to poke around Substack a little more, finding like-minded people. Many of my fellow-Substackers are only like-minded in the way we look at the written word. Our life circumstances and pathways are quite different, allowing for conversations that mean something. It’s quite a ride. I am being scratched in whole new different ways!
I love that you mentioned feeling like you 'must' write. I also write because of this strange, sometimes annoying compulsion, even though it's not always easy (or even enjoyable).
It's like an itch you need to scratch, because the alternative is miserable.
You're right about Substack—there's something different about this platform. While social media sites like Facebook and Twitter often feel like 'screaming into the void,' discussions here actually have the potential to move people, instead of merely inciting shallow reactions. Maybe a community made up entirely of writers and readers was exactly what the Internet needed.
Your essay on writing is spot on! I like the statement, “Both writers contend that the act of creation is a spiritual practice.” To describe this sensibility, the Christian Worldview describes us humans as “bearers of the Image of God.” Since the Deity is a Creator, so are we, and woe is me if I withhold myself from this part of the divine design. I have noted that same discomfort in others. We are all artists in some medium… and we MUST create!
Well said. Have you read The Artist's Way? Julia Cameron explains the duty to create similarly (even going so far as to compare the Creator's energy to our own). I'd never made the connection to Christianity before, but now that you mention it, it makes so much sense!
I haven’t read that book. (And am woefully behind in my reading lists) it is tragic that many Christian leaders, some 150 years ago, decided that art is a pursuit of the flesh and not of the spirit. It is taking a lot of time and effort to elevate it back to its proper place. Art, such as Piss-Christ, or some of the more disturbing offerings of what presently passes for music, is not helping.
Ugh... I just looked up Piss Christ and now I feel kind of sick.
A spiritual outlook on art would suggest that art should have a net positive effect on its audience—even if it does not make them feel 'good,' it should move them in some way, make them understand the world around them a little better. Attention-grabbing shock value masquerading as 'art' does nothing except bring the spirit down.
However, the modern (would it be 'postmodern'?) view of art is that if it elicits any sort of reaction from the viewer/reader/listener, it has done its job. Perhaps this is a direct result of the shallow, non-spiritual view of art that you mentioned.
On the topic of writing, I found out something recently that was a bit of a surprise to me. These are rare after you pass 70 years, so I still savour it, though it comes from mid-to-late last year.
At the time, I was a regular time waster on Facebook and just investigating Substack. I was also writing a rare blog. The great revelation to me was that because I am a writer, however self-described, I MUST write! And I was scratching my itch on the pages of Facebook.
Once that reality came into my head, I realized I had to get away from Facebook because all the hours of writing I was doing there was being thrown into a bottomless pit of mediocrity. It was a textual conversation where everybody talked at once, and no one listened. Though I had scratched my itch, I had said nothing others listened to. Why was I writing?
I have thrown away my membership to Facebook. I have begun to poke around Substack a little more, finding like-minded people. Many of my fellow-Substackers are only like-minded in the way we look at the written word. Our life circumstances and pathways are quite different, allowing for conversations that mean something. It’s quite a ride. I am being scratched in whole new different ways!
I love that you mentioned feeling like you 'must' write. I also write because of this strange, sometimes annoying compulsion, even though it's not always easy (or even enjoyable).
It's like an itch you need to scratch, because the alternative is miserable.
(I wrote this essay on the subject, if you're interested https://thinkingman.substack.com/p/why-i-write)
You're right about Substack—there's something different about this platform. While social media sites like Facebook and Twitter often feel like 'screaming into the void,' discussions here actually have the potential to move people, instead of merely inciting shallow reactions. Maybe a community made up entirely of writers and readers was exactly what the Internet needed.
Thank you for your comment!
Your essay on writing is spot on! I like the statement, “Both writers contend that the act of creation is a spiritual practice.” To describe this sensibility, the Christian Worldview describes us humans as “bearers of the Image of God.” Since the Deity is a Creator, so are we, and woe is me if I withhold myself from this part of the divine design. I have noted that same discomfort in others. We are all artists in some medium… and we MUST create!
Well said. Have you read The Artist's Way? Julia Cameron explains the duty to create similarly (even going so far as to compare the Creator's energy to our own). I'd never made the connection to Christianity before, but now that you mention it, it makes so much sense!
I haven’t read that book. (And am woefully behind in my reading lists) it is tragic that many Christian leaders, some 150 years ago, decided that art is a pursuit of the flesh and not of the spirit. It is taking a lot of time and effort to elevate it back to its proper place. Art, such as Piss-Christ, or some of the more disturbing offerings of what presently passes for music, is not helping.
Ugh... I just looked up Piss Christ and now I feel kind of sick.
A spiritual outlook on art would suggest that art should have a net positive effect on its audience—even if it does not make them feel 'good,' it should move them in some way, make them understand the world around them a little better. Attention-grabbing shock value masquerading as 'art' does nothing except bring the spirit down.
However, the modern (would it be 'postmodern'?) view of art is that if it elicits any sort of reaction from the viewer/reader/listener, it has done its job. Perhaps this is a direct result of the shallow, non-spiritual view of art that you mentioned.