Source: gifak.net
Tag: struggle
T.G.I.F.: It’s been a long week (80 sec)
A demanding mistress
You work and you work and you work and you work and you work, and you are determined to wrestle this thing to the ground, making art… But your vision is not yet formed, your work does not yet bear that distinctive mark, your unique hand, your DNA… In your despair, you toss and you turn, crying yourself to sleep night after night after night, endlessly doubting, endlessly doubting your ability and sometimes feeling like a motherless child. I have been there — I know. Searching high and low for your own voice, for your own expressive utterance, you lead yourself down paths that dissipate… Confused and fuzzy, you begin to imagine that all the forces of the world are conspiring against you…
And yet, and still, the pursuit — that driving thing called art — hounds you, and you don’t know any rest. And, determined to make a way out of no way every day, you rise up and you hit it, own it, go into your studio… Art is a demanding mistress.
~ Carrie Mae Weems, 2016 School of Visual Arts Commencement Speech
Sources: Photo – Gund Gallery. Quote: Brainpickings
Monday Morning Wake-Up Call
Two years from now I can hear people saying: Your play is extraordinary. And my answer: It took me ten years to perfect my craftsmanship. I am wrestling with giants here. Every morning I wake up in a sweat, ready for the struggle. The impact is great, but I am never defeated. It is the rehearsals I miss, to attend them and see the progress the actors make. My being there is an absolute necessity. My eye and ear criticize every move and every intonation. I listen to the “commas” of the play as if they were drops falling from a fountain. Dis moi comment vont tout tes affaires. I am alone.
~ James Salter, Light Years
Notes:
- Photograph: Rob Woodcox with “When Colors Run”
- Related Posts: James Salter
Running With Anguilla. On Christmas Day.
“What are the winter months?”
The cab driver chuckled. “You’ve not been to Anguilla Sir?” He paused and continued. “There are no winter months, Sir.”
Who you callin’ Sir? Aha. Old and stupid. 18° 15′ North – standing on the Equator. No seasons.
That was a week ago. It’s 6:10 am. 52° F. We’re trudging up a severe incline at Mianus River Park in Connecticut, back to reality. It’s Christmas Day. 391 acres. No humans, no superficial chit chat – ISTJ magic. Squirrels, Zeke and me. He’s at my heels, the clanking of his steel tags breaking the morning silence. He’s panting. I’m heaving.
It was a week ago. It was 82° F, gusty, the fronds on the palm trees slapping. Anguilla’s beach, fine white sand sifting through your toes, walking on cotton. The sea is warm, clear, the white sand carpets the ocean floor. I’m floating on a thick foam mattress, the tropical winds sashay the hammock. Wispy clouds, paintings, lazily pass overhead. If there was heaven….
That was a week ago. It’s a muddy track from the rains. Footing is sloppy. The Sun is working to burn through the clouds. Mist is rising from the earth. I’m over layered, overdressed and overheating during this December heat wave. And there’s Anguilla. Ever present. But, could you live there? Continue reading “Running With Anguilla. On Christmas Day.”