Linda Pastan, Waiting for my Life
It interesting that I came across this one this morning. Interesting only because just yesterday, I was putting together my presentation for the Artist's Talk I am doing in Brisbane on 28 March, and part of the chat goes something along these lines - "words are the way I make my way through the world. Some artists carry a journal around with them and make quick studies; sketch an outline or a scene. Me, I gather words. Snippets of conversations, beautiful descriptions. Clear and concise understandings".
And lo, so too does this quote - altho far more poetically.
Perhaps Ms Pastan is speaking more of gathering and collecting scraps of talk such that they can be used in the future to remind her of something in her life. To hold a light on a time which was important; people who mattered; or things that she learned.
For me; the words I capture spark something into the future. They act as some form of inspiration that might lead to work; they somehow describe something so perfectly that I want to respond to it artistically.
I really do like the notion of collecting scraps of talk and setting them down like birdsong...
from somewhere on instagram...
I am also a collector pf words, small phrases that occur to me that provide insights, connections and simple noticings as well as those written by others. Every so often I take out my notebook where I record them and read through the pages, always feeling that same uplifting feeling of understanding and knowing I am not alone in my thinking. When I discover one that seems to take random thoughts that have been floating at the periphery of my mind and coalesces them into something beautifully coherent I feel as if I have just been given a great gift - those are the ones I truly cherish.
ReplyDeleteI just sighed as I read your words about going through your notebook and that feeling of knowing you are not alone in your thinking and understanding - what a comfort that is. It is SUCH a gift to have something coalesce like that! It has often been hazy, something I can't really put my finger on but I know there is something there, or something that I want to say that I just can't express and oh what a joy it is to have somebody capture it - succinctly, elegant, perfectly...
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