Thank you to @wakeupkitty for the mention, or I would not have seen this post. This is a very good question, @boxcarblue, and I like how you explored the various revelations you’ve had along the way. I think I’ve had a very similar experience.
I write because I have always wanted to do so. I’m also not a gifted storyteller, but I do aim to master it through practice. I have also been exposed to many artists and masters whose abilities and stories put me in awe of what can be done, which is alternately thrilling and unsettling. (Is it worth doing if I am not amazing at this?) And I agree also that it is like a puzzle or riddle. I know when there is a piece missing, but cannot always see how to get to the end goal along the way.
The hurdles I have faced have a lot to do with insecurity, self-worth, and the idea that it is all somehow about that tormented life you mentioned. I was indeed tormented, for a long time. But today, I aim for an emotionally balanced life, full of good friends and family and great experiences, all of which fuel my writing with interesting personalities and scenarios.
I don’t write to record my experiences, but to be inspired by them, to create art from them.
I think it is human nature to have a desire to create. Whether the thing you want to create is a song, a book, an invention, happiness for yourself or others, or an autonomous vehicle, we should listen to that voice and do it — however we can. And I believe success is at least partly in the making, not always in achieving some end goal. Thinking of it this way calms my spirit.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Very well said.
I lived a tormented life for a while as well, mostly self imposed I think because I felt like in order to be a writer or an artist I had to live like that. I’m glad to have found my way out of those times and spaces and to be in a happy and secure space where I, ironically enough, feel more able to and more inspired to write.
It’s interesting to me that you write to be inspired by your experiences.
I sometimes find that I discover new meanings and emotions when writing about my own experiences, but I think I generally find that it’s the experiences that inspire me to write. I’m tying to imagine it working the other way around and can’t quite.
I also think that success is often aomething that comes as a result of the process more so than the end result.
Thanks for stopping by!
I am not sure I said it very well, when I said I write to be inspired by my experiences. What I really mean is that life brings us challenges — difficult relationships, life hurdles, illnesses, deaths of people we love.... If we look at those things through the lens of a writer, we see how they can fuel our art. Otherwise they are just the cause of pain and often have little actual value. (Except occasional lessons learned.)
As a writer, you can add them to your trove of little seeds that may grow into something more. What’s more, when those seeds find their way into our writing, they can be examined anew.
I’m glad you found your way out of the tormented place. It can be a wasteland!
Posted using Partiko iOS
I see. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for clarifying.
Getting out of the wasteland: I often laugh because I had to move half way around the world to learn how to live a “typical life” and be satisfied by it. Adventure is a funny thing. Sometimes it only really exists in the planning and the first steps out the door.
Perhaps that is the answer: it calms the spirit!
Posted using Partiko Android
I like that!