more life and art

[chelidon]

This just in from one of my journalistic colleagues on a work-related mailing list, totally out of the blue-- funny how threads seem to run synchronistically across realms:

(I'm reminded of a comment by Stephen King, the novelist. He said he
considered writing only fourth priority for him; his top three priorities
were to himself, his family, and the small town he lives in. His most ardent
fans said he had an obligation to humanity to put his writing above all
other priorities, even his own well-being, but King said what those fans
didn't understand is that, if he didn't satisfy those other three priorities
first, he'd NEVER get any writing done. King's writing suffered while he
broke his addiction to booze and drugs, but if he hadn't broken that
addiction he'd be dead by now, and doing no writing at all.


Sustainability, and the life of the artist as much a part of the Art as the artifacts. Ah-yup.

I'm about to go back out and finish plowing -- we didn't get as much snow as I'd hoped for, but it's a good foot or so, anyway, plenty enough to play in. After doing some renovation work and then watching bad movies late last night ("Free Enterprise," ow...), I slept in late this morning, went out and got to drive the tractor around and plow us out until I came in for lunch to relax and let my toes thaw for a while. Time now to go out and finish up, move some leftover house bits from the renovation work out to the barn (some lovely hand-forged iron door/gates that just don't fit for now), then do some brainstorming/planning for 4 upcoming camps (oi), and perhaps knock out a wall or two this evening for fun ;-) I was going to try to get out and ski this afternoon, but that would have made the day just too hectic. Besides, I think I may take off early tomorrow and go when nobody else will be out. I'm not taking on any more freelance assignments for at least a month, life has gotten just too overfull and sleep-deprived, and it's definitely time to rebalance and get much more "me" time. Yay, sustainability.

Comments

[draiguisge.livejournal.com]

Heh, you mean you're not keeping the big iron prison walls in the house??? ;)

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Ah, nope, the big iron doors are up in the barn now, living in one of the unused horse stalls. I admired the craftmanship and skill that went into them, and they are quite unique, but they did always have a certain dungeon-like quality. There can of course be a time and place for such theme decor, but not in the dining room. Despite the wide array of miscreants and free spirits who pass through Casa Chaos, it's actually rare that we need to lock guests either in or out... ;> We're talking about putting in a "secret garden" out on the land at some point in the next year or three, so perhaps I'll build a stone and wood arched entryway then and install them up.

[draiguisge.livejournal.com]

Oooooh! PLEASE tell me I can come help you put the secret garden in, whenever the time comes? Please? :)

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Well, sure, of course. Ya know you both are welcome to come visit anytime, and if you want to help out with landscaping, shoot, that's just a bonus!

[morrigandaughtr.livejournal.com]

If we don't feed ourselves, however will there be anything to compost and then flow out onto the page, or the strings, or the clay?

Nifty quote about Stephen King, too, by the way. He is the master's master writer, IMO.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's it exactly. And I think S. King is a perfect example of someone following their demonic muse almost to self-destruction, and yet turning their life around before it ended, into a much more sustainable form.

Of course, this is just one opinion, and there are many, many counter-examples of artists who lived seriously unbalanced lives and made great art. though often over the course of a very short and/or unhappy life. That's one model, but there are others, of artists doing great work, yet having a happy life, not dying of an addiction, or alone, penniless, miserable. I have a vested interest in the more sustainable models being possible ;>

That said, for me part of art is of course being on the edges -- your own, and those of the society around you. If you're not an edge-walker, how can you get a fresh or new perspective from which to tell those tales which need to be told? I've done my share of edge-walking in various ways, sometimes to my detriment, but thankfully avoided being permanently damaged (as far as I can tell ;>) as a result. And it could be argued that someone who is completely satisfied with their life and the world around them has little incentive to be an artist. But I think it is possible to be on the edges and still be happy at the same time.

I guess what I'm really fighting against is the concept, which is perhaps the dominant one, that to be a "real" artist you have to be on the edge in ways which preclude real happiness or a healthy, sustainable life. The hel with that. I want it all-- I want to do good, powerful art, and be happy while doing it, and make a decent living, enough to live my relatively humble dreams, anyway. I want to indulge in deliciously ecstatic orgiastic excess with the gods, fill myself with life and love and joy and pain and sorrow, the raw, primal dream-stuff...and still be there for my child, still be able to pay the bills and hold a job and go on long, contemplative walks in my woods, be a model of grounded, earthy manifestation, as well as the firey aspects of passion and creativity. Possible? I hope.

[morrigandaughtr.livejournal.com]

For me, your words touch on that story about the human astral traveling and running into a being who promised hir great power - only s/he would have to give up the possibility of love in order to receive that power. The human, knowing then that the being was evil, banished it to all the hels.

Because no power of good would ever ask you to give up love.

I think there's a difference between being an edgewalker and being unhappy. I also think that the type of person who is at heart an edgewalker feeds hir soul by walking the edges, and that conversely if s/he didn't walk the edges not only would s/he be unable to create, s/he would be missing something essential to hir soul.

That sounds like circular logic, reading it back to myself just now. But it feels right.

I believe it's possible to have it all - and that all one has to do is to ask for it. From The Artist's Way: pray to catch the train and then run as fast as you can.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Because no power of good would ever ask you to give up love.

Say it, sister. "You can have your dreams if you lose your soul." No thanks.

Though my perspective is that love itself isn't good, per se, isn't anything but itself, a force wild and precious, dangerous and sacred, disorienting and exhilarating, and far too rare. As a mostly-unrepentant romantic, tho', I'll personally agree with the old but true cliche that life would not be worth living without it.

I think there's a difference between being an edgewalker and being unhappy. I also think that the type of person who is at heart an edgewalker feeds hir soul by walking the edges, and that conversely if s/he didn't walk the edges not only would s/he be unable to create, s/he would be missing something essential to hir soul.

Ah, yeah. Makes sense to me. The edge is where I best touch the Wild, the infinite, the eternal and endless, that current of life-force and impossible limitless potential which molds me, even as I grasp it to bring small, ultimately finite bits and pieces into the world of form. Maybe it's something of beauty, but even more to the core of it, something of truth, and the finding of it does feed me.

I believe it's possible to have it all - and that all one has to do is to ask for it. From The Artist's Way: pray to catch the train and then run as fast as you can.

*lol* Astute observation. You have to ask (sometimes the hardest part), and then be willing to run like hell. Will, Intent and Desire -- find and acknowledge the deep desire, connect it to higher self, and direct with intention (and much sweat!) to make it so ;-)

thanks for the dialogue, by the way, juicy stuff!

[morrigandaughtr.livejournal.com]

thanks for the dialogue, by the way, juicy stuff!

- absolutely!

[morrigandaughtr.livejournal.com]

. . . Though my perspective is that love itself isn't good, per se, isn't anything but itself, a force wild and precious, dangerous and sacred, disorienting and exhilarating, and far too rare . . . .

I never thought about it quite that way before. Thanks.