“In the sense that there was nothing before it, all writing is writing against the void.” – Mark Strand
I believe that all acts of creation are acts against the void. Baking a cake and taking it to a neighbour, photographing a flower in bloom, drinking in a sunset, knitting a baby’s first sweater, taking a child to the park or writing a poem are all acts of courage and hope.
The blank page, the blinking cursor in a sea of white screen…first there is nothing. Just space. And then miracle of miracles, I watch thoughts I had not yet thought or certainly ever articulated, scroll across the screen like I am doing right this minute. And out of nothing – arrives something.
Now. It can be argued whether the result is worthy or not, but I don’t believe that’s the point. The point is to keep baking, knitting, walking, talking and connecting. The point is to reach across the blankness and make something where there was vast nothingness just a moment before.
We are all artists. Each day we are given our canvas. Each day we choose our paints. And every day and every minute, everything we’ve created turns to dust and is thrown to the wind. But, like those Buddhist monks and their intricate sand mandalas that are swept into the river after days of painstaking creation, we recognize our impermanence…and our mandate is to create in spite of it.
It is the meaning of hope. It is the meaning, I believe, of life. To create in spite of all evidence to the contrary. It is magic to create a beautiful life…and to know that sometimes the darkest shadows create the most depth.
Hey Sharry,
Finally had some time to really peruse your blog. Love your inspired bright colour choices. I left a comment encouraging you to create on a full-time basis 🙂
Colleen, lately I’ve been working in glass (mostly fusing) and there are photos scattered throughout my blog posts (the ones categorized under glass art as well as in the Sea Turtle Arts page). As with most things I want to do, the full-time job gets in the way of spending as much time creating as I’d like, but I manage to get a little done when I can.
I seem to often begin my responses to your writing with WOW! This time I am saying wow because of a recent email that I sent to you. Having not read your blog, I stated to you the peace one gets from our partner drawing us a bath or a friend bringing us some home made pie. How comforting the little things in life are.
Your blog is so well written, your message is clear and precise. Life is what we chose to make it. Along the way are bumps and bruises but if we humbly, sometimes painfully get out of bed each and every day, how we paint the picture is up to us.
Thank you, beautifully written.
You mean the email that you sent that got me weeping again? That email? Talk about inspired Karen. I’m printing it and keeping it close. Bless you.
Thanks for this post, Colleen. The idea that I am capable of creating something out of nothing, or something with meaning out of raw materials (in the case of my visual art) is very empowering. I’ll have to think on this some more.
Thanks for your response Sharry. I find the idea of creating something out of nothing both an empowering thought and a rather terrifying one 🙂
What kind of visual art do you do? Is your work online anywhere to be viewed?
What a beautiful post, Colleen. I admire how you take the challenges life presents and turn them in your hands, just so, to view another – and infinitely more powerful – reality.
Thank you so much Laurie. It means a lot to hear that from you, as I really value your perspective on life.