IT'S ALL IN THE QUEST

Here it is, late Sunday afternoon in mid-February and it dawns on me that so much of what I do to rest and recreate also is consumed by my creative process. Like the three different books I finished today. Well, I have to admit, one was a re-visitation. That was Miyamoto Mushashi's, "BOOK OF FIVE RINGS". The others were Dan Varley's "JAPANESE CULTURE, 4th Ed" and Leonard Koren's, "WABI-SABI for ARTISTS, DESIGNERS, POETS, & PHILOSOPHERS". The first of the three is research for the next long piece of fiction I intend to pursue. The second was for a refresher in history and to deepen my sense of a people and nation. The third was to tickle my aesthetic sense and artistic conceptions.

In the in-between time I have been writing and rewriting short fiction while researching markets. I've re-opened the novel I have in the works for another revision and am exploring possible agents. Fresh poetry has been put to ink and I've begun to conceptualize a new direction in my work as a painter which I'm hoping to open time for soon as I can get queries out the door for the novel.

Meanwhile - C'mon? You had to have seen that coming - I've made contact with a couple of local Writers Groups. Nothing beats putting something down in front of a fresh set of eyes that have the courage to speak honestly about what they see. Unfortunately, most of the groups I've encountered locally have been of the mind that you can't judge someone else's quality of work or artistic intent. Hogwash. That's a re-issuing of the same tired old crap I've heard for years from the timid or inept. Really? The Greats were all part of communities that spoke their minds openly to one another! Sometimes it led to hurt feelings - Or duels - But what's wrong with a little honest emotion?

What's this all about, just where am I going? I hope beyond both our horizons. Do you have the courage to admit that, without stimulus and input from outside your own thick dome, you will never really excel? Whether you are a musician, writer, painter, potter - What ever - If all you ever really delve into is your ego you're not getting out of the Kiddie Pool. I keep harping on this because I see so much of it. Artists who are afraid to venture out beyond the surf line where the really big 'Bite You's' swim. Those who will not take the plunge into an unknown because it is just that, UNKNOWN!

Nothing of significance would ever have or ever be accomplished without risk. No one in this world gets remembered for being boringly mundane. There are any number of examples of under-achievement in the self-published drivel being offered at a to remain unnamed mega-online outlet.

Go for a road trip, take in a concert outside of your usual comfortable listening habit, visit a church, tabernacle, or temple attended by a faith you have no reference to. Go to a land where you have no history or language. Learn to cook. Bake bread. Sew. Sail by wind power alone. Navigate without a GPS. Fly a plane or sky dive from one. Even if you never produce anything artistic - You will have led a life beyond the imaginations of the VAST majority of people crawling across the surface of this planet. When you finally come to the end of days you will know you have lived! But, just maybe, it will start a fire under that creative boiler that I believe exists inside every soul and you will be amazed at what's inside you!