"Now that my ladder's gone,
I must lie down where all the ladders start
In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart."
--William Butler Yeats
Okay, lovely readers. You heard right. Your old-bird professor here at the Rag 'n' Bone is gonna take a long walk off a short pier and go against current marketing wisdom. I'm dumping the hoop-dee-doo! Last chance to place your bets!
I've been thinking again. Oh, dear. Don't you hate when that happens? It's been gnawing around the edges of my intellect for some time now, after reading something my good friend, Christina Carson, said in one of her wisdom-packed blogs some time ago, The View From Here. Matter of fact, the gnawing comes from several somethings in many of her blogs that have stimulated my own nature and original beliefs to rise again to the surface.
Having been somewhat a rebel and independent thinker from birth, I've never cared about acquiring "things" nor have I ever spent much time worrying about money. I just figured if you spent it all, some would come in soon to replace it. Living within a framework dictated by others has just never worked for me. I've always written what was in my heart or whatever my intuition put forth without regard to what society or my family would say...come hell or high water. Where I lost my way, it seems, was in publishing my books and then trying to fit in with the current, chaotic marketing wisdom of which I've clearly read too much. I've twisted, turned and tweeted so much that if you printed them all out you could paper the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel a thousand times over.
Selling books is not why I write. I knew that, I knew that, I knew that! I write because I want to illuminate something for the reader. I write because perhaps someone needs help and could benefit from reading my experience in that area, if only to see that they are not alone in their plight. I write to give voice to the voiceless. I write for a hundred reasons...to find out what I think, to see a path in the dark, to capture a moment outside of time...but again, it's always to illuminate. None of these reasons involve money. I've never written a piece with dollar signs in my eyes. It seems that somewhere in there I began believing my own press and these rebel eyes got big at the sight of a Brink's truck.
Shame. Shame on me! It's totally embarrassing that I've abandoned my core principles and gone down this road. So, an about-face is about to occur. Simplicity has always been the key to my comfort....I need to simplify. My good friend, the witty and wonderful British poet, Oscar Sparrow, recently emailed me expressing similar thoughts, a longing for "calm and focus". He rues the "many layers of interface and distraction", as do I. It truly boggles the mind how much more time I've spent chasing a dollar than I have actually creating. My intuition has always told me that the universe would get my writing into the hands of whoever needed to read it, even if it was only one person, at the appropriate time. How could I have forgotten that?
True enough, many writers do need to make a living from their works, and must throw themselves into the dirty economics of the fray. God bless 'em, I would never deny them that choice and I will certainly continue to lend my support to those who make that choice. Independent writers must have the toughest skin on the planet for all they have to learn to do and put up with. I wish everyone nothing but the best in finding their own way in a dog-eat-dog business world. Christina said in one of her blogs that the most important thing for each of us is to "find our purpose", and that will naturally be different for every writer. So again, this post is not meant to disparage anyone or their pursuits; we all do what we have to do.
I will return to taking my cues from nature, a habit that has always served me well. Nature does not tolerate extremes for long....there will always be a return to balance and harmony. Trying to gain visibility or becoming self-serving has caused an unstable situation for me, personally. I have to discard these social fixations in favor of a simpler me. There are so many of us out there trying to be "first" that the natural balance of the literary world is rapidly taking on water and is in danger of capsizing. I'll be busy doing what I do while this situation evolves, as it will, naturally. All processes cycle in the direction of their opposite...it's the law of polarity.
If I depend more on my intuition and vision and rub elbows with those who also cultivate these, I can only grow and add immeasurable dimension to my actions and thoughts. My writing will be done without expectation of reward; the process of creation itself continues to be my great joy! I think that seeking honor and prestige will only separate me further from those for whom I write, the human tribe. I am one with all: their joy is my joy, their pain is my pain. To sully this interconnectedness with a money chase is beyond unworthy for me personally. The harmony I feel at this moment is the harmony I want to feel tomorrow. And so it shall be, dearies, so it shall be.
"Be as you are. Know what that is. Live only that."
--Christina Carson in "Books That Disturb Us"
(And now, for the entertainment...)
I must lie down where all the ladders start
In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart."
--William Butler Yeats
Okay, lovely readers. You heard right. Your old-bird professor here at the Rag 'n' Bone is gonna take a long walk off a short pier and go against current marketing wisdom. I'm dumping the hoop-dee-doo! Last chance to place your bets!
I've been thinking again. Oh, dear. Don't you hate when that happens? It's been gnawing around the edges of my intellect for some time now, after reading something my good friend, Christina Carson, said in one of her wisdom-packed blogs some time ago, The View From Here. Matter of fact, the gnawing comes from several somethings in many of her blogs that have stimulated my own nature and original beliefs to rise again to the surface.
Having been somewhat a rebel and independent thinker from birth, I've never cared about acquiring "things" nor have I ever spent much time worrying about money. I just figured if you spent it all, some would come in soon to replace it. Living within a framework dictated by others has just never worked for me. I've always written what was in my heart or whatever my intuition put forth without regard to what society or my family would say...come hell or high water. Where I lost my way, it seems, was in publishing my books and then trying to fit in with the current, chaotic marketing wisdom of which I've clearly read too much. I've twisted, turned and tweeted so much that if you printed them all out you could paper the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel a thousand times over.
Selling books is not why I write. I knew that, I knew that, I knew that! I write because I want to illuminate something for the reader. I write because perhaps someone needs help and could benefit from reading my experience in that area, if only to see that they are not alone in their plight. I write to give voice to the voiceless. I write for a hundred reasons...to find out what I think, to see a path in the dark, to capture a moment outside of time...but again, it's always to illuminate. None of these reasons involve money. I've never written a piece with dollar signs in my eyes. It seems that somewhere in there I began believing my own press and these rebel eyes got big at the sight of a Brink's truck.
Shame. Shame on me! It's totally embarrassing that I've abandoned my core principles and gone down this road. So, an about-face is about to occur. Simplicity has always been the key to my comfort....I need to simplify. My good friend, the witty and wonderful British poet, Oscar Sparrow, recently emailed me expressing similar thoughts, a longing for "calm and focus". He rues the "many layers of interface and distraction", as do I. It truly boggles the mind how much more time I've spent chasing a dollar than I have actually creating. My intuition has always told me that the universe would get my writing into the hands of whoever needed to read it, even if it was only one person, at the appropriate time. How could I have forgotten that?
True enough, many writers do need to make a living from their works, and must throw themselves into the dirty economics of the fray. God bless 'em, I would never deny them that choice and I will certainly continue to lend my support to those who make that choice. Independent writers must have the toughest skin on the planet for all they have to learn to do and put up with. I wish everyone nothing but the best in finding their own way in a dog-eat-dog business world. Christina said in one of her blogs that the most important thing for each of us is to "find our purpose", and that will naturally be different for every writer. So again, this post is not meant to disparage anyone or their pursuits; we all do what we have to do.
I will return to taking my cues from nature, a habit that has always served me well. Nature does not tolerate extremes for long....there will always be a return to balance and harmony. Trying to gain visibility or becoming self-serving has caused an unstable situation for me, personally. I have to discard these social fixations in favor of a simpler me. There are so many of us out there trying to be "first" that the natural balance of the literary world is rapidly taking on water and is in danger of capsizing. I'll be busy doing what I do while this situation evolves, as it will, naturally. All processes cycle in the direction of their opposite...it's the law of polarity.
If I depend more on my intuition and vision and rub elbows with those who also cultivate these, I can only grow and add immeasurable dimension to my actions and thoughts. My writing will be done without expectation of reward; the process of creation itself continues to be my great joy! I think that seeking honor and prestige will only separate me further from those for whom I write, the human tribe. I am one with all: their joy is my joy, their pain is my pain. To sully this interconnectedness with a money chase is beyond unworthy for me personally. The harmony I feel at this moment is the harmony I want to feel tomorrow. And so it shall be, dearies, so it shall be.
"Be as you are. Know what that is. Live only that."
--Christina Carson in "Books That Disturb Us"
(And now, for the entertainment...)
CONNECTION
In the rose garden,
protecting the faucets
from freezing, I spy
in the beam
of the flashlight a
skittering trail
of mole paws
Garden tools ((glisten)) with
cold, cautious beads
Blazing among the barren canes
are puffed, hard hips,
swollen red with promise of
Spring and new roses
Rapt, I listen, holding my
breath as kindred souls {fuse} with
mine in the dark
The idea of connection, of
some vast oneness,
descends
♪ ♫ ♬ music surrounds ♪ ♫ ♬
poets *whisper* cherubic odes,
writers expound
puffs of lone heart songs
~ wafting ~
beckoning me to
share
begging me to hear
yearning only to give
and receive
small comforts
and I feel
the warm mist of Spirit
~ hovering ~
blanketing me, you,
the roses
--Jo VonBargen 2012
In the rose garden,
protecting the faucets
from freezing, I spy
in the beam
of the flashlight a
skittering trail
of mole paws
Garden tools ((glisten)) with
cold, cautious beads
Blazing among the barren canes
are puffed, hard hips,
swollen red with promise of
Spring and new roses
Rapt, I listen, holding my
breath as kindred souls {fuse} with
mine in the dark
The idea of connection, of
some vast oneness,
descends
♪ ♫ ♬ music surrounds ♪ ♫ ♬
poets *whisper* cherubic odes,
writers expound
puffs of lone heart songs
~ wafting ~
beckoning me to
share
begging me to hear
yearning only to give
and receive
small comforts
and I feel
the warm mist of Spirit
~ hovering ~
blanketing me, you,
the roses
--Jo VonBargen 2012
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